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OUTLLNES  OF  THEOLOGY. 


By  L.  T.  TOWNSEND,  D.D,, 

Author  of  “ Credo,”  “ Sword  and  Garment,”  “ God-Man,”  etc. 


JTew  Yoi\k  : 

NELSON  & PHILLIPS. 

PiNCINNATI  : 

HITCHCOCK  & WALDEN. 


SI’  NDA  Y'SCHO  0 L DI2P  .YKTMENT, 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1873,  by 
NELSON  & PHILLIPS, 

in  the  Ofiice  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


PREFACE. 


Within  a quarter  of  a centuiy  the  social  and 
physical  sciences  have  apparently  engrossed 
public  attention  and  discussion  so  extensively 
as  to  well-nigh  overshadow  the  science  of 
theology.  During  this  period,  and  especially 
in  our  own  country,  the  spirit  of  intelligent 
research  has  visited  alt  classes.  The  American 
day-laborer  is  familiar  with  books  written  by 
the  most  erudite  English  and  profoundest  Ger- 
man philosophers.  The  prophecy  has  been 
fulfilled : “ Many  shall  run  to  and  fro,  and 
knowledge  shall  be  increased.” 

But,  meantime,  other  agencies  have  been  at 
work  to  counteract  the  pretentious  claims  of 
skeptical  science.  A conviction,  in  consequence, 
has  already  taken  possession  of  the  mass  of 
our  people  that  pure  science,  however  thorough- 
ly and  extensively  prosecuted,  affords  no  sub- 
stantial resting-place,  and  that  if  men  would 
unite  with  scientific  knowledge  that  wisdom 
which  is  of  the  highest  advantage  to  humanity, 
they  must  likewise  unite  with  their  investiga- 

99043 


4 


Pkeface. 


tions  the  thorough  study  of  scriptural  theology  ; 
for  life  eternal  is  nothing  other  than  to  know 
^^the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom 
thou  hast  sent.” 

It  may  also  be  added  that  the  conviction 
was  never  deeper  than  now,  that  science  and 
religion  should  be  so  constructed  as  to  har- 
monize. Intelligent  men  see  clearly  enough 
that  science  will  be  all  the  more  interesting,  and 
will  make  its  grandest  advances,  when,  laying 
aside  all  jealousies,  it  meekly  receives  the  in- 
spiring aid  of  Christian  faith.  Equally  clear 
is  it,  also,  that  scriptural  theology,  without 
changing  its  fundamental  data,  must,  neverthe- 
less, embrace  cheerfully  all  the  well-established 
results  of  recent  discoveries,  and,  should  it  be 
necessary,  modify  its  formula  to  correspond 
therewith ; in  no  other  way  can  it  command  the 
respect  of  modern  times. 

One  of  the  instrumentalities  which  has  fos- 
tered among  the  masses,  in  this  age  of  science 
and  utility,  respect  for  the  Bible  and  religious 
truth,  though  with  no  direct  intention  of  doing 
so,  and  though  doing  its  work  chiefly  upon  chil- 
dren, and  in  the  most  quiet  and  unpretending 
manner  possible,  is  the  Sunday-school  proper, 
together  with  the  Sunday  Bible  service. 

To  be  sure,  at  the  present  time  the  Sunday- 
school  appears  to  be  exorbitant  in  its  demands. 
It  has  taken  possession  of  half  the  Lord’s  Day 


Preface. 


5 


for  its  exercises  in  more  than  half  the  Churches 
of  the  land  ; it  has  taken  in  hand  the  instruction 
of  millions  of  pupils,  and  has  every-where  en- 
listed the  best  talent  in  the  Church  to  furnish 
its  literature.  In  no  other  institution  or  de- 
partment of  service,  the  world  over,  is  there  so 
much  faithful,  yet  voluntary,  labor.  Its  public 
exercises  call  together  crowded  and  delighted 
audiences,  even  when  other  services  of  the 
Church  are  neglected.  In  line,  it  has  wrought 
such  changes  that  one  sometimes  doubts  where- 
unto  it  will  grow,  and  questions  whether  further 
encroachments  are  wise  and  best. 

But  the  movements  of  God’s  providence  can- 
not be  arrested.  His  hand  has  been  in  this  enter- 
prise of  the  Church  or  things  would  be  other- 
wise. The  tide  is  too  mighty,  and  too  much 
is  involved,  to  attribute  it  to  chance  movements, 
or  for  preachers  to  harbor  jealousy  or  express 
anxiety.  If  they  are  obliged,  in  a body,  to 
enter  its  ranks  themselves,  let  it  be  gracefully 
done.  Entertaining  such  feelings,  we  have 
turned  aside,  though  but  slightly,  from  regular 
and  pressing  duties,  to  make  a small  contribu- 
tion to  this  agency  of  Providence  which  has 
done  so  much,  but  which,  we  think,  is  to  do 
vastly  more,  and  whose  present  attitude  should 
fill  all  Christians  with  an  increasing  and  almost 
inspiring  confidence. 

The  design  of  this  treatise,  however  fdv 


6 


Preface. 


short  the  execution  may  fall,  has  been  to  furnish 
Sunday-school  teachers,  advanced  scholars,  and 
others  interested  in  these  subjects,  such  a hand- 
book upon  the  Outline  of  General  and  Christian 
Theology  as  may  be  somewhat  abreast  with  the 
times,  and  which  will,  in  a measure,  give  di- 
rection to  our  thinking,  studying,  and  teaching, 
that  they  may  henceforth  be  less  discursive  and 
more  effective. 


OOITTEE'TS 


Page 

Preface 3 

PART  I. 

OUTLINE  OF  GENERAL  THEOLOGY. 

Introductory 13 

I.  Comparative  Theology 14 

II.  Leading  Religious  Systems 14 

Monotheism 15 

Dualism 16 

Polytheism 16 

Pantheism 11 

Christianity 18 

III.  Essential  Theology 22 

Data  of  Essential  Theology 22 

PART  II. 

OUTLINE  OF  CHRISTIAN  THEOLOGY. 

Introductory 25 

DOCTRINES  CONCERNING  GOD.  THEOLOGY 
PROPER. 

Existence  and  Nature  op  God  as  inferred  from 

Creation 28 

Eternal  Existence 28 

Intelligence 28 


8 


Contents. 


Page 

Will 30 

Omnipotence 30 

Ubiquity 30 

Supreme  Goodness 31 

Spirituality 31 

Personality 32 

Unity 32 

Trinity 33 

(1.)  God-Conceiver 33 

(2.)  God-Creator 34 

(3.)  God-Inspirer 35 

Existence  and  Nature  of  God  as  Reflected  from  the 

Human  Soul 39 

Conviction 39 

Ideas 40 

Instincts 40 

Beneficial  Infiuence 40 

Obligation 40 

Existence  and  Nature  of  God  as  Revealed  in  the 

Scriptures... 41 

Authority  of  the  Scriptures 41 

Presumptive  Evidence 41 

Genuineness,  (a.)  Internal,  (b.)  External  evidence.  41 
Oredibleness.  (a.)  Internal,  (b.)  External  evidence.  41 

Inspiration,  (a.),  (b.),  (c.),  (d.),  (e.),  (f.) 42 

Teachings  of  the  Scriptures  respecting  God 43 

Godhead * 43 

Trinity 43 

Father 43 

Son 44 

Spirit 44 


Contents. 


9 


DOCTRINES  CONCERNING  THE  GOD-MAN. 

CHRISTOLOGY. 

Page 

Pre-existent  Spiritual  God-man 46 

Presumptive  Evidence 46 

Scripture  Evidence 46 

Pre-existent  Angelic  Nature 47 

^ Pre-existent  Human  Nature 47 

Culmination  in  Pre-existent  God-man 47 

Historic  God-man ; 47 

Evidence  that  Jesus  is  the  God-man 49 

God-nature 49 

(1.)  Recorded  Pacts 49 

(2.)  Contemporaneous  Opinion 49 

(3.)  Personal  Testimony 49 

(4.)  Christian  Consciousness 49 

(5.)  Christianity 49 

Man-nature 49 

(1.)  Recorded  Pacts 49 

(2.)  Contemporaneous  Opinion 49 

(3.)  Personal  Testimony 49 

God-man -Nature 50 

(1.)  Historic  Union 50 

(2.)  Scripture  Representation 50 

(3.)  Contemporaneous  Opinion 51 

(4.)  Universal  History  and  Prophecy 51 

(5.)  Science 51 

Pre-existent  God-man,  the  Historic  God-man 51 

Official  Character 52 

Statements  of  Jesus 52 


10 


Contents, 


Page 

Doctrines  involved  in  the  theory  that  Jesus  is  the 

GtOd-man 53 

Incarnation 53 

Presumptive  Evidence 53 

New  Testament  Records 53 

Personal  Life  and  Character 53 

Mediation 53 

Presumptive  Evidence 54 

Scripture  Representation 55 

Demands  of  the  Human  Soul 55 

DOCTRINES  CONCERNING  MAN.  ANTHROPOLOGY. 

Origin  of  Man 55 

Scientific  Evidence 55 

Scripture  Evidence 55 

Normal  Character  of  Man 56 

Completion 56 

Distinguished  from  the  Brute 56 

Freedom 56 

Limitations  and  Liabilities 51 

Related  to  Law 5t 

Fall  OF  Man 51 

Actual  Sin 57 

Original  Sin 58 

Adam’s  Sin 58 

Consequences  of  Sin 69 

DOCTRINES  CONCERNING  SALTATION. 

SOTERIOLOGY. 

Ground  of  Salvation 60 

Atonement 60 


Contents. 


11 


Pack 

(1.)  Meaning CO 

(2.)  Fact 60 

(3.)  Nature,  (a.),  (b.) 60 

(4.)  Extent,  (a.),  (b.) 61 

(5.)  Relation  to  the  Trinity,  (a.),  (b.) 61 

(6.)  Achievements,  (a.),  (b.),  (c.) 62 

Conditions  of  Salvation 62 

Human  Side  Predominating 62 

Repentance 62 

Conversion 63 

Faith  and  Works. 63 

Divine  Side  Predominating 63 

Election 63 

Redemption 64 

(a.)  Regeneration 64 

(b.)  Justification 65 

(c.)  Sanctification 65 

(d.)  Perfection 65 

1. )  Absolute 65 

2. )  Conditional 65 

DOCTRINES  CONCERNINO  FINAL  THINGS. 
ESCHATOLOGY 

Death 66 

Intermediate  Condition 67 

Christ’s  Second  Advent 67 

End  of  the  World 68 

The  Change  and  Translation  of  the  Living 68 

Resurrection  from  the  Dead 68 

General  Judgment 69 


12 


Contents. 


Page 

Conclusion  of  Christ’s  Mediation 71 

Endless  Exaltation  of  the  Eedeemed 72 

Heaven 72 

Angels 73 

Endless  Reprobation  of  the  Unredeemed 73 

Hell 73 

Satan 74 

Demons 76 

SUPPLEMENTAL  TOPICS. 

Lord’s  Day 

Church 

Church  Sacraments '^'7 

Lord’s  Supper 78 

Baptism *78 

Church  Polity *79 


‘ ‘i  / i . 

! ' ' ( f II  , a ' I 
: ' / [.  / 


OUTLINE  OF  THEOLOGY. 


PAET  L 

OUTLINE  OF  GENERAL  THEOLOGY. 


Introductory. 

Theology  is  a general  term  denoting  a 
system  which  treats  of  the  Deity. 

Its  essential  principles  are  implanted  in  the 
human  soul,  and  may  be  developed  from  it. 
Thoughts  respecting  God  are  among  the  first 
to  engage  the  liuman  mind.  Thoughts  respect- 
ing one’s  self  are  quickly  followed  by  thoughts 


* The  term  theology  is  derived  from  two  Greek  words,  “ Logos,”  meaning 
word  or  discourse,  and  Theos,”  meaning  God.  A few  definitions  fi-om  em- 
inent theologians  may  be  of  interest:  “ Theology  is  the  doctrine  concerning 
God  and  thmgs  divine  obtamed  from  the  Scriptures.” — Turretine.  “ The 
design  of  theology  is  to  unfold  to  us  the  doctrines  of  religion  fundamentally 
and  rightly,  to  discuss  them  convincingly  and  profitably,  and  to  show  how 
they  may  be  successfully  defended ; its  properties  must  be  truth,  certainty, 
and  efficaciousness.” — Bretsciineider.  “Theology  is  an  exhibition  of  the 
Christian  faith  in  systematic  completeness.” — De  Wette.  “It  is  the  dog- 
matic of  the  Church  to  which  we  belong.” — Twesten.  These  definitions, 
while  sufficiently  broad  to  answer  the  demands  of  the  science  of  scriptural 
theology,  are  not  comprehensive  enough  to  cover  the  facts  of  comparativo 
theology  as  now  developed  and  systematized,  and  which  are  of  such  a charac- 
ter as  to  preclude  the  idea  of  ignoring  them  in  a theological  treatise. 


I Outline  of  Theology. 

respecting  the  one  who  made  him.  They  will 
also  be  among  the  last  thoughts  to  visit  the  soul 
at  the  close  of  life,  and  will  remain  most  in- 
timately with  it  through  eternity.  Theology  is, 
therefore,  the  oldest,  and  will  be  the  latest,  of 
all  the  sciences.  The  thoughts  of  men,  in  the 
process  of  human  development,  may  pass  from 
theology  to  metaphysics,  and  on  to  positivism, 
but  sooner  or  later  must  return  to  theology 
as  the  true  basis  of  all  investigation  and  ad- 
vancement. 

I.  COMPARATIVE  THEOLOGY. 

Comparative  theology,  as  a department  of 
theological  science,  has  for  its  office  an  exam- 
ination of  the  different  religious  systems,  for  the 
purpose  of  discovering  their  resemblances  and 
differences.  The  outlines  of  theology  include, 
therefore,  all  the  principles  and  facts  of  compar- 
ative theology,  and  lead  to  a statement  of  the 
different  religious  systems.  Together  with  the 
other  comparative  sciences,  comparative  the- 
ology  is  at  present  full  of  interest  to  thoughtful 
minds,  and  its  conclusions  are  no  less  reliable 
than  those  of  the  so-called  positive  sciences. 

II.  LEADING  RELIGIOUS  SYSTEMS. 

The  religious  systems  of  the  world,  viewed  as 
to  their  minor  differences,  are  so  numerous  that 
our  limits  forbid  full  classification.  We  there- 


General  Theology. 


15 


fore  mention  those  only  which  in  a general 
way  include  all  others. 

MONOTHEISM 

Is  that  system  of  religion  which  treats  of  one  God. 
This  appears  to  have  been  the  original  faith  of 
mankind.* 

All  those  nations  among  whom  have  prevailed 
various  forms  of  polytheism  and  pantheism  give 
strong  evidence  in  their  early  history  of  a faith 
strictly  monotheistic.  The  leading  minds  of  all 
polytheistic  nations  have  been  monotheistic. 

The  history  of  the  religious  thought  of  mankind, 
it  is  true,  has  not  been  in  all  respects  progressive. 
Starting  from  monotheism,  the  tendencies  have 
been  polytheistic  and  pantheistic,  followed  by  a 
return  to  monotheism  in  proportion  ta  civilization, 
intelligence,  and  piety.  It  is  singular  that  Darwin 
and  Herbert  Spencer  have  not  learned  that  there 
are  no  movements  on  straight  lines ; all  things 
move  in  curves  and  circles.  The  way  out  is  the 
way  back,  reversed. 

The  clearest  types  of  monotheism  are  found 
among  the  Jewish,  Mohammedan,  and  Christian 
nations.  Modern  Unitarians  appear  to  be  more 


* This  is  as  wg  should  expect,  provided  the  Scripture  representations  are 
correct — that  originally  God  created  but  one  man,  and  disclosed  to  him  the 
truth ; that,  later,  the  earth  was  swept  of  its  inhabitants  by  the  deluge  of 
Noah;  that  but  one  family,  and  that  one  educated  in  a monotheistic  faith, 
and  impressed  by  the  most  startling  providences  which  have  appeared  on 
earth,  and  which  were  believed  to  be  under  the  direction  of  one  personal 
God,  went  forth  from  the  ark  to  re-people  the  earth,  and  perpetuate  the  facta 
of  thi3  history  in  monuments  and  traditions. 


16 


Outline  of  Theology. 


strictly  monotheistic  thnn  Evangelical  Christians, 
but  essentially  they  are  not.  No  Christian  be- 
lieves in  more  than  one  God. 

DUALISM 

is  that  system  of  religion  which  divides  the  uni- 
verse between  two  deities,  who  are  of  antagonistic 
natures,  the  one  good,  the  other  bad,  and  who 
are  equally  necessary,  equally  eternal,  and  conse- 
quently equally  independent  of  one  another.  Such 
a faith  is  the  production  of  speculation  rather 
than  of  conviction.  It  is  a natural  development 
from  monotheism,  originating  from  a limited  view 
of  existing  phenomena,  and  from  an  ineffectual 
effort  to  account  for  the  existence  of  good  and  evil. 
It  will,  therefore,  vanish  in  the  light  of  conviction 
based  upon  a truer  faith,  and  disappear  in  the 
presence  of  any  speculation  which  succeeds  in 
harmonizing  more  perfectly  the  apparent  discrep- 
ancies of  the  universe.  The  ancient  Persians, 
though  not  the  sole,  are  the  chief  representatives 
of  dualism. 

POLYTHEISM 

is  that  system  of  religion  which  teaches  that  there 
are,  not  one  or  two,  but  many  gods,  each  of  whom 
has  an  agency  in  governing  the  affairs  of  the 
universe. 

This  system,  like  dualism,  is  speculative,  spring- 
ing from  limited  views  of  God’s  omnipotence,  and 
from  an  attempt  to  explain  the  great  variety  of 
existing  phenomena.  The  elements  of  the  universe 
are  many  and  mighty,  therefore  the  gods  are  many 


General  Theology. 


17 


and  mighty,  is  the  foundation  upon  which  polythe- 
ism is  built.  The  different  shades  of  polytheism 
hold  to  a common  idea  of  one  supreme  God,  and 
point  to  a previous  historic  monotheism.* 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  want  of  a distinct 
idea  of  one  God  always  tends  to  idolatry.  The  com- 
mon people  among  polytheistic  nations  have  uni- 
formly been  image  and  object  worshipers.  The 
chief,  though  not  the  sole,  representatives  of  poly- 
theism are  the  ancient  Greek  and  Roman  nations. 

PANTHEISM 

is  that  system  of  religion  which  reduces  all  forms 
of  matter  and  mind  to  modifications  of  a self-ex- 
istent substance  which  is  called  God.  All  things 
are  God^  and  God  is  all  things^  is  the  formula 
upon  which  pure  pantheism  is  based.  ISTo  system 
is  more  thoroughly  speculative.  It  originated 
historically  with  the  dawn  of  philosophy  in  the 
East,  and  is  the  expression  of  an  effort  to  explain 
existing  facts.  Most  modern  systems  of  develop- 
ment and  evolution,  mental  or  physical,  tend  for  a 
time  toward  pantheism,  but  appear  to  end  in 
atheism ; though  when  fully  developed  they  will 
demonstrate  the  correct  form  of  monotheism. 
Pantheism  finds  its  chief  representatives  in  Hin- 
dostan,  but  it  now  has,  and  has  had,  adherents 
every-where,  even  among  the  Islands  of  the  South 
Sea.  A refined  and  extremely  speculative  form  is 


* “ The  general  impression  of  the  most  distinguished  my thologists  of  the 
present  day  is,  that  monotheism  is  at  the  foundation  of  all  pagan  mythol- 
ogy.'’— PlETAT. 

O 


18 


Outline  of  Theology. 


taking  possession  of  not  a few  of  the  leading  minds 
of  the  present  age.  The  modern  school  of  pan- 
theism has  for  its  founder  a Dutch  philosopher  of 
Jewish  descent — Benedict  de  Spinoza. 

CHKISTIANITY 

is  that  system  of  theology  which  makes  the  God- 
man  its  center.  It  is  not  speculative,  in  the  sense 
of  being  a discovery,  or  a deduction  of  philosophy ; 
it  has  its  origin  rather  in  a revelation  from  the 
deity  through  holy  prophets,  of  whom  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  is  chief. 

It  is  of  such  a character,  however,  as  to  harmo- 
nize with  the  deepest  and  purest  speculations  of 
science,  and,  more  than  any  other  system,  elevates 
the  mind  of  man  into  the  broadest  and  grandest 
conception  of  things. 

The  Christian,  while  advocating  the  superiority 
of  his  religion,  does  not  hesitate  to  acknowledge 
that  other  religious  systems  do  have,  and  must 
have,  excellences,  especially  if  they  have  any  con- 
siderable number  of  adherents.  Never  have  a 
large  number  of  men  been  wholly  wrong  in  their 
conclusions.  No  thoughts,  for  illustration,  are 
sublimer  than  those  growing  out  of  pure  mono- 
theism, as  represented  by  Jews*  and  Moham- 
medans. 


* We  hesitate  to  class  the  Jews  with  the  Mohammedans  in  this  connec- 
tion without  the  qualifying'  statement  that  the  Jews  seem  always  to  have 
associated  a human  form  -with  Deity,  and  have  at  no  time  doubted  the  pos- 
sibility of  incarnation.  The  Old  Testament  anthropopathy  must  have  fos- 
tered, if  it  did  not  originate,  the  idea. 


General  Theology. 


19 


The  idea  of  an  eternal  God,  back  of  all  and 
above  all,  awakens  thoughts  at  once  grand  and 
startling.  But  no  less  is  this  true  in  the  Christian 
system.  The  deity  loses  therein  none  of  his  sub- 
lime attributes.  He  is  not  concealed,  as  in  pure 
monotheism,  within  a distant  and  inaccessible 
heaven,  but  is  brought  near  and  is  felt  to  be  full 
of  sympathy  in  the  person  of  the  God-man.  In  a 
word,  Christianity  possesses  all  that  is  great  and 
grand  in  monotheism,  without  suffering  from  any 
of  its  deficiencies. 

Thus  also  of  Dualism.  It  was  based  upon  no 
superficial  thought.  The  strife  between  good  and 
evil,  it  is  true,  often  seems  about  equally  matched. 
Mighty  and  antagonistic  appear  the  contending 
forces.  There  is  no  question  that  there  must  be 
somewhere  a tremendous  and  appalling  spirit  of 
evil ; all  history  and  the  souls  of  most  men  so  re- 
port. Dualism  affords  a reasonable  explanation 
until,  at  least,  a better  one  is  furnished.  Chris- 
tianity announces  that  better  solution.  It  points 
out  the  terrific  antagonisms  between  good  and 
evil;  yet  it  has  the  advantage  of  not  leaving  the 
soul  in  terrible  doubt.  Satan  is  recognized,  but 
not  as  sovereign.  Evil  is  represented,  not  as 
eternal,  or  absolutely  necessary,  but  as  only  per- 
mitted. In  the  presence  of  Christianity,  dualism, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  and  from  the  deep 
perplexities  in  which  it  leaves  the  mind,  must  pass 
away.  If  it  remains  at  all  it  will  be  beyond  the 
bounds  of  civilization.  If  it  returns  at  all  it  must 


20 


Outline  of  Theolgoy. 


be  after  men,  having  lapsed  again  into  barbarism, 
are  emerging  into  light ; while  Christianity,  calmly 
contemplating  the  final  outcome,  made  certain 
under  the  providence  of  one  SuiDrerne  God,  must 
remain  fondly  cherished  in  the  hearts  of  men. 

Polytheism  also  has  its  truths  and  charms. 
When  it  invests  every  object  in  nature  with  a 
personal  and  special  divinity,  it  certainly  invites  to 
the  liveliest  poetic  and  religious  contemplation. 
But  Christianity  does  no  less,  yea,  rather,  more. 
Without  issuing  in  fetichism,  as  polytheism,  from 
its  nature,  is  likely  to,  it  brings  every  object,  even 
a falling  sparrow  and  blade  of  grass,  under  the 
direct  supervision  of  deity.  The  ])oetic  and  re- 
ligious nature  of  man  is  not  ignored  by  it,  but, 
rather,  is  elevated  under  its  instructions  and  in- 
spirations, and  purified  to  the  fullest  extent  pos- 
sible. Christianity  flourishes  and  polytheism  van- 
ishes, because  one  is  the  whole-truth,  the  other 
but  halt-truth. 

Xor,  again,  is  it  surprising  that  Pantheism,  dis- 
covering that  God  is  every  object,  be  it  the  flash  of 
liglitning,  the  crash  of  thunder,  the  incoming  sea- 
wave,  the  tints  of  the  morning,  the  flight  of  an  in- 
sect, or  the  thoughts  of  a man,  has  been  so  in- 
tensely fascinating  to  oriental  minds ; nor  is  it 
strange  that  this  system  now  possesses  such  be- 
witching charms  for  some  of  the  profoundest 
thinkers  of  the  age.  But  the  charm  is  specula- 
tive, and  the  speculations  of  man,  less  reliable  than 
bis  convictions,  will,  sooner  or  later,  yield  t<»  iin- 


General  Theology. 


21 


proved  spocnilations,  or  to  some  sublime  revelation 
like  that  which  the  Holy  Ghost  bestows  upon  the 
believer. 

The  vitab  difficulty  with  pantheism  is,  liowever, 
that  it  cannot  be  true  if  the  consciousness  of  man 
be  true.  Back  of  consciousness  speculation  cannot 
go.  The  reasoning  in  the  case  is  simple.  If  all 
things,  mental  and  physical,  are  God,  then  there 
can  be  but  one  consciousness ; but  every  man 
fee’s  that  his  consciousness  is  his  own,  and  is  not 
the  consciousness  of  anotlier  man,  nor  of  the  deity. 
Man,  unless  blinded  by  prejudice,  has  no  deeper, 
more  intense,  or  more  universal  conviction  than 
this  of  his  independent  and  solitary  self-hood  ; he  is 
not  God,  and  God  is  not  himself,  and  he  knows  it. 
We  are  aware  that  it  is  no  easy  matter,  by  means 
of  a few  assertions,  thus  to  bow  pantheism  out  of 
our  presence.  It  is  to  h:ive  its  day.  The  next 
great  trial  through  which  Christianity  is  to  pass 
is,  doubtless,  its  encounter  with  these  enticing  and 
charming  conceits  of  modern  pantheism.  But  in 
the  end  we  are  sure  there  will  be  nothing  to  fear. 
When  pantheistic  speculations  have  ripened  and 
brought  forth  perfect  fruit,  then  they  will  behold 
God  IN  every  thing,  and  see,  too,  that  in  him  all 
things  live,  move,  and  consist,  without  being  iden- 
tified with  him ; then,  also,  pantheism,  purified  of 
its  errors,  will  harmonize  with  Christianity. 


22 


Outline  of  Theology. 


III.  ESSENTIAL  THEOLOGY. 

Essential  theology  is  another  department  in- 
cluded within  the  outlines  of  theology ; it  is  an 
outgrowth  of  comparative  theology,  and  when 
its  system  is  completed  it  will  consist  of  those 
elements  which  are  found  in  all  the  great  relig- 
ious systems  of  the  past  and  present,  and  which, 
therefore,  are  supposed  to  accord  with  universal 
conviction,  and  are,  by  inference,  fundamental 
and  correct. 

Essential  theology  in  its  fullness  is,  in  brief, 
correct  theology. 

The  Data  of  Essential  Theology  are  the  vital 
truths  in  all  religions;  when  the,y  are  system- 
atized they  will  constitute  the  true  theology, 
and  must  harmonize  with  a divine  revelation 
should  that  be  given.  Study  in  this  depart- 
ment of  science  is  reduced,  therefore,  to  the  dis- 
covery and  arrangement  of  the  data  of  essential 
theology.  This  done,  the  task  of  the  theologian 
ends. 

Availing  ourselves  of  past  investigations,  we 
may  take  some  things  for  granted,  thus  gaining 
space  and  time.  A God,  an  Incarnation,  a Me- 
diator, an  Atonement,  in  fine,  all  the  doctrines 
which  constitute  Christianity,  may  undoubtedly 
be  found  more  or  less  clearly  stated  in  the  sum 


Essential  Theology. 


23 


of  the  different  religions  of  the  world.  In  this 
respect  no  other  religion  is  equally  comprehen- 
sive and  yet  so  definite  and  in  such  perfect  har- 
mony with  human  conviction.  We  may  con- 
clude, therefore,  that  at  the  present  stage  of 
religious  investigation  the  essential  data  of 
Cliristianity,  as  they  appear  in  the  approved 
doctrines  of  the  Church,  constitute  the  data  of 
essential  theology. 


N 


x. 


: ’ 


PAET  II. 


OUTLINE  OF  CHRISTIAN  THEOLOGY. 


Introductoey. 

Christian  theology  may  be  viewed  both  as  a 
science  and  as  a religion.  As  a science,  it  ar- 
ranges into  a system  such  doctrines  and  pre- 
cepts as  belong  to  it ; as  a religion,  it  correctly 
and  impressively  unfolds  and  interprets  God’s 
revelation  to  the  race,  treats  of  the  character 
and  condition  of  man,  announces  the  laws  by 
which  human  life  should  be  governed,  and  re- 
veals what  is  to  be  the  condition  of  humanity 
after  death. 

The  doctrines  and  precepts  of  Christian  the- 
ology are  based  upon  both  the  revealed  word 
and  v/orks  of  God. 

Christian  theology  is  divided,  as  to  its  method 
of  treatment,  into:  1.  Natural  theology — that 
branch  of  theological  science  which  treats  of 
those  evidences  of  God  and  of  his  attributes  and 
relations  which  are  derived  from  the  light  of 
nature  and  reason,  independent  of  any  special 


26  Outline  of  Christian  Theologf. 


revelation.  2.  Eevealed,  or  biblical,  theology 
— that  branch  of  theological  science  which  is 
founded  exclusively  upon  the  teachings  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  Natural  and  revealed  the- 
ology,  taken  together,  are  subdivided  into : 

(a.)  Systematic,  (b.)  Dogmatic,  (c.)  Speculative,  and, 
(d.)  Polemic  Theology.* 

Christian  theology  is  divided,  as  to  its  subject- 
matter,  into : 

(1.)  Theology  Proper. — The  scientific  development  of  those 
truths  of  nature  and  revelation  which  relate  to  God’s  existence, 
character,  and  attributes. 

(2.)  Anthropology. — The  scientific  development  of  those 
truths  of  nature,  and  especially  of  revelation,  which  relate  to 
man’s  creation,  character,  and  moral  history.  _ 

(3.)  Christology.  — The  scientific  development  of  those 
truths  which  relate  to  the  reconciliation  between  God  and 
man  through  the  office  and  agency  of  Christ  Jesus. 

(4.)  SOTERIOLOGY. — The  scientific  development  of  those  truths 
which  relate  to  the  salvation  of  man,  especially  through  the 
atonement  of  the  Divine  Mediator. 

(5.)  Eschatology.  — The  scientific  development  of  those 
truths  which  relate  to  the  final  things  in  human  history — 
death,  resurrection,  and  the  judgment,  and  events  connected 
therewith. 

Systems  of  theology  usually  treat  of  certain 
topics  which  are  supplemental : 

(l.)  Lord’s  Day;  (2.)  The  Church;  (3.)  Church  Sacraments; 
(4.)  Church  Polity. 


These  terms  are  sufficiently  self-explaining  not  to  require  formal  stato^ 
ment. 


Introductory. 


27 


The  outlines  of  Christian  theology  may  be 
presented  in  the  following  diagram  : 


God. 


Man. 


Christ  in 

the  sense  of  Logos. 


Jesus. 


In  this  representation  but  two  distinct  factors 
appear.  The  three  members  at  the  left  are 
deity ; the  three  on  the  right  are  humanity. 
Strictly  speaking,  that  is  all.  But  in  unfolding 
the  system,  by  way  of  convenience,  the  union 
of  deity  and  humanity  is  made  distinct ; thus 
three  factors  appear — God,  God-man,  and  man. 

These,  in  their  order,  furnish  the  basis  of  the 
Christian  system  of  theology 


28  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. 


THEOLOGY  PKOPER. 

DOCTRINES  CONCERNING  GOD. 

The  evidence  for  an  intelligent  First  Cause  is 
based  upon  three  considerations: 

existence  and  nature  of  god  as  inferred 
FROM  THE  works  OF  CREATION. 

The  reasoning  from  this  source  is  very  simple. 

Eternal  Existence. — There  is  an  eternal  existence 
of  some  kind.  For  some  things  now  exist ; some  things 
could  never  have  come  from  nothing,  hence  something, 
or  some  things,  must  have  existed  always. 

Intelligence. — There  is  an  eternal  and  intel- 
ligent existence  of  some  kind.  For  some  things 
affording  the  clearest  evidence  of  wisdom  and  design 
now  exist.  Such  are  the  leaf  of  a tree,  the  wing  of  a 
bird,  and  the  human  eye,  the  first  and  finest  of  all 
optical  instruments.  These  things  have  always  ex- 
isted, or  else  some  intelligence,  or  some  intelligent 
process,  must  have  brought  them  into  existence.  But 
they  have  not  always  existed.  There  was  a time,  as 
reported  both  by  geology  and  chemistry,  when  this 
earth  nowhere  possessed  a human  eye,  a bird’s  wing, 
or  a solitary  leaf,  nor  even  a germ  that  could  produce 
them.  There  was  neither  hen  to  lay  the  egg,  nor  egg 
from  which  the  hen  could  be  hatched ; nor  was  there 
oak  to  bear  the  acorn,  or  acorn  from  which  the  oak 
could  sprout.* 


* There  are  strata,  known  in  geology  as  the  Cambrian  formation,  for  illus- 
tration, composed  of  granite,  gneiss,  and  mica  schist,  presenting  only  inorgajiio 
matter.  But  immediately  above  this,  in  the  old  slate-stone  of  a later  period, 
S])])ear  organic  remains. 


TiIKOLOGY  rKOFKK. 


29 


The  idea  that  these  organisms  or  tlieir  germs  could 
have  been  lodged  upon  the  earth’s  surface  through  the 
agency  of  meteoric  stones,  or  could  have  floated  through 
space  without  assistance,  affects  not  the  result  of  our 
reasoning,  even  if  true;  their  production  elsewhere  is 
still  to  be  accounted  for.* 

Production,  therefore,  from  some  source  becomes 
necessary.  But  production  of  works  of  intelligence  by 
an  evolving  natural  process  would  be  such  a marvel  of 
wisdom  and  skill  that  the  process  could  not  of  itself 
begin  to  be,  nor  could  it  begin  to  evolve  other  things, 
save  as  the  product  of  an  author  of  supremest  in- 
telligence, t 

We  are  consequently  forced  to  the  hypothesis  of  an 
intelligent  author  as  first  cause,  in  distinction  from  an 
impersonal,  intelligent,  or  unintelligent  process,  which 
is  an  impossible  idea.  But  this  intelligent  first  cause 
could  neither  have  created  itself  before  it  existed,  nor 
have  been  created  by  some  other  first  cause  equally  in- 
telligent, since  itself  is  first  cause.  A primal  intelli- 
gence has  no  source ; therefore  this  intelligent  creating 
source  never  had  a beginning.]; 


* But  so  far  from  being  true,  this  supposition  is  simply  preposterous,  un. 
less  they  could  have  been  borne  hither  upon  a mass  of  molten  slag.  A fiery 
gulf  would  present  no  more  effectual  barrier  to  the  passage  of  physical  sub- 
stances from  other  regions  to  the  earth’s  surface  than  do  the  force  of  gra\i- 
tation  and  atmospheric  resistance.  Burnt  to  a cinder  is  iron  even  if  it 
attempts  the  transit. 

t The  late  conclusions  of  skeptical  philosophy  are,  that  all  things  come 
through  the  process  of  evolution,  passing  from  the  homogeneous  to  the  hetero- 
geneous, the  latter  ever  becoming  more  and  more  definite  and  perfect.  But  is 
not  such  philosophy  blind  that  it  does  not  see  that  the  very  processes  of  evolu- 
tion presuppose  an  author  as  much  as  a watch  presupposes  a watch-maker  ? 
Can  a machine  make  a watch  ? — then  what  a wonderful  mechanic  he  must 
be  who  makes  the  machine!  Philosophy  has  simply  discovered  God’s 
method.  He  is  the  homogeneous,  the  arch-mechanic. 

$ Of  course  the  human  mind  cannot  comprehend  this  stupendous  fact. 
The  alternative  is  equally  difficult  of  apprehension.  The  first  cause  must 


30  Outline  of  Cukistian  Theology. 


But  if  this  creating  intelligence  had  no  beginning, 
then  it  is  self-existent,  that  is,  it  exists  necessarily, 
hence  it  will  have  no  end.  Being  without  beginning 
or  end,  it  is  eternal.  Hence  this  is  an  eternal  intelli- 
gence. 

Will. — This  creating  intelligence  could  not  pro- 
duce works  of  intelligence  without  intention  to  do  so ; 
but  such  executed  intention  implies  the  possession  and 
execution  of  will  power;  this  intelligent  and  eternal 
existence  is  such,  therefore,  as  to  will  to  do  as  he  does. 

Omnipotence. — Comets,  planets,  and  suns  of  ma- 
jestic magnitude,  revolving  upon  their  axes,  and  rush- 
ing onward  in  their  orbits  with  inconceivable  velocity, 
flying  past  one  another  and  crossing  each  other’s  paths 
in  every  direction,  and  yet  with  precision  so  exact  that 
their  transits,  appearances,  and  eclipses  may,  to  the 
instant,  be  determined  centuries  gone  or  to  come,  are 
but  the  work  of  the  fingers  and  the  creations  of  the  word 
of  this  intelligence  which  inhabiteth  eternity.  A power 
sufficient  to  create  and  sustain  to  such  an  extent,  can  it 
not  do  whatever  is  an  object  of  power? 

Ubiquity.  — Light,  it  is  estimated,  travels  one 
hundred  and  ninety-five  thousand  miles  per  second; 
some  of  the  discovered  stars  are  from  us  at  distances  so 
great,  it  is  likewise  estimated,  as  to  require  tw'o 
hundred  million  years  for  the  transmission  of  their 
light.*  But  infinitely  beyond  these  are  probably  other 
stars  undiscovered.  The  infinite  power  that  created 
and  now  sustains  all  these  worlds  must  be  present 
where  they  are.  Is  not,  therefore,  the  evidence  over- 
whelming that  the  creator  is  universal  aljsolutely,  or  as 


have  had  either  a beginning-,  or  no  beginning ; the  mind  can  conceive  of 
neither ; and  yet  one  or  the  other  must  be  true. 

’•'The  latest  experiments  modify  the  estimates  somewhat,  but  not  suffi- 
ciently to  affect  our  conclusion. 


Theology  Proper. 


31 


universal  as  being  can  be,  even  wherever  space  is,  (?) 
but  space  is  every-wliere. 

Such  knowlodgo  is  too  wonderful  for  me;  it  is  high,  I cannot  attain 
unto  it. 

Whither  shall  I go  from  thy  Sph-it?  or  whither  shall  I flee  from  thy 
presence  ? 

If  I ascend  up  into  heaven,  thou  art  there : if  I make  my  bed  in  hell, 
behold,  thou  art  there. 

If  I take  the  wings  of  the  morning,  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  sea ; 

Even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me,  and  thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me. 

If  I say.  Surely  the  darkness  shall  cover  me;  even  the  night  shall  be 
light  about  me. 

Yea,  the  darkness  hideth  not  from  thee;  but  the  night  shineth  as  the 
day : the  darkness  and  the  light  are  both  ahke  to  thee. 

Supreme  Goodness. — Most  objects  in  nature,  at 
first  glance,  and  all  objects,  upon  critical  examination, 
furnish  unmistakable  evidence  of  good  intention  in  their 
design  and  creation. 

Not  a nerve  (the  physical  source  of  all  pleasure  and 
pain)  has  yet  been  discovered  which  was  created  for 
the  purpose  of  producing  pain.  What  appear  to  be 
distressing  and  destructive  forces  in  nature  are  rather 
constructive,  and  are  evidences  of  goodness.  Science 
reports  that  infinite  love  smiles  no  less  in  the  autumn 
tempest  than  in  the  spring  zephyr.  But  for  the  tempest 
and  its  work  of  purification,  contagion  and  death,  in- 
stead of  health,  would  lurk  in  the  breath  of  June.  The 
same  infinite  goodness  which  arranges  for  the  ecstasy 
of  delight  in  the  soul  of  man,  arranges  no  less  for  the 
smart  of  the  child’s  burnt  hand,  and  in  either  case  the 
arranger  is  equally  good;  not  only  good,  but,  never 
deviating  toward  the  path  of  ill,  and  always  choosing 
that  which  is  best,  he  is  supremely  good. 

Spirituality. — It  is  difficult  to  define  spirit.  Neg- 
ative and  positive  explanations  of  it  may  be  had  by 
stating  its  relation  to  matter.  Spirit  is  that  vrhich  has 


32  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. 


none  of  tlie  attributes  belonging  to  matter,  matter  hav- 
ing also  none  of  the  attributes  belonging  to  spirit. 

Eternity,  intelligence,  will,  independent  power  in 
distinction  from  delegated  force,  ubiquity,  and  moral 
goodness,  are  attributes  which  we  have  no  reason  for 
assigning  to  matter,  and  which  v/e  have  every  reason 
for  assigning  to  tlie  primal  existence ; the  primal  exist- 
ence must,  therefore,  be  spirit. 

Personality. — A person  is  a conscious  being.  Per- 
sonality, as  here  employed,  is  an  attribute  of  con- 
scious being;  it  neither  necessarily  involves  limitation 
upon  the  one  hand,  nor  does  it  on  the  other  predicate 
all  that  belongs  to  being. 

An  existence  which  is  intelligent,  volitive,  and  spirit, 
cannot  be  otherwise  than  conscious  being ; it  must  be, 
therefore,  a person  having  the  attribute  of  personality; 
we  henceforth  call  this  conscious  and  personal  being — 
God. 

Unity. — There  are  no  elements  in  nature  nor  ob- 
jects of  creation,  taken  collectively  or  separately, 
which  do  not  suggest  unity  of  design.  The  adaptation, 
for  illustration,  is  so  perfect  between  the  eye,  the  at- 
mosphere, the  sunlight,  and  the  objects  seen,  that 
unity  in  creation  is  an  inevitable  conclusion.  Should 
tlie  eye,  or  the  atmosphere,  or  the  sunlight,  be  but 
slightly  changed,  eyesight  would  be  at  an  end. 

So  of  other  phenomena.  The  boat  and  boatman  are 
on  the  opposite  shore  of  a ferry  you  wish  to  cross. 
You  think,  decide,  then  shout.  The  ferryman  hears, 
thinks,  and  the  boat  is  pushed  off  to  take  you.  In 
these  harmonious  adaptations  science  discovers  that 
unity  is  the  constantly  recurring  factor.  The  same 
being  who  made  the  mind  to  think,  made  also  the 
vocal  organs  to  produce  sounds,  the  atmosphere  to  con- 
vey them,  the  ear  to  hear,  and  other  minds  to  compre- 


Theology  Proper. 


33 


hend.  From  every  quarter  of  tlie  universe  comes  this 
verdict : God  is  one,  not  two,  or  more. 

Trinity. — Whatever  God  is  in  his  essence,  he  is 
trinity  in  his  relations.  For  evidence  of  this  we  must 
appeal,  as  before,  to  things  seen ; they  are  the  evidence 
of  things  unseen,  “even  of  his  eternal  power  and  God- 
head.” 

If  it  can  be  made  clear  that  deity  stands  in  three, 
and  only  three,  distinct  relations  to  every  divine  act  and 
product,  whether  it  be  in  the  creation  and  preservation 
of  the  kingdom  of  universal  nature,  or  in  the  restora- 
tion and  ultimate  salvation  of  humanity  in  the  kingdom 
of  grace,  then  the  necessity  of  something  or  a some- 
what in  the  divine  cliaracter,  enabling  it  to  adapt  itself 
to  these  three  relations,  must  be  admitted,  and  the 
propriety  of  tlie  designation  trinity,  or  three-one,  can 
with  no  good  reason  be  disputed  until  a better  one  is 
substituted. 

(1)  God  as  CoNCErvEB. — The  universe  in  all  its  parts 
must  have  been  clearly  and  perfectly  conceived  of  before  it 
was  created.  This  fact  is  especially  impressive  because  there 
is  in  the  universe  no  evidence  of  any  thing  casual  or  acci 
dental;  on  the  contrary,  the  most  perfect  arrangement  and 
development  are  every-where  seen.  The  first,  the  primal,  the 
primeval  relation,  therefore,  in  which  deity  stands  to  the  uni- 
verse, is  that  of  conceiving  it.  But  the  conception  of  the  uni- 
verse before  its  creation  involves  a clear  type  of  personality,  so 
striking,  indeed,  that  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead,  with  nothing 
lacking,  must  have  been  called  into  exercise.  When,  there- 
fore, God  stands  forth,  uniting  all  the  necessary  powers  and 
elements  of  deity  into- that  one  relation  of  conceiving,  tlien  this 
clear  type  of  personality  indicates  a distinction  in  the  God- 
head not  before  discovered  or  discoverable.  It  is  apparently 
tlie  first  condition  of  divine  personality.  It  appears  to  stand  at 
the  head  of  the  family  of  the  di^dne  distinctions.  Deity  could 
3 


34r  Outline  of  Ohkistian  Theology. 


not  liave  had  )^3ersoiiality  before  this  conception  of  tlie  universe 
existed;  this  conception  must,  consequently,  have  always  ex- 
isted. In  brief,  then,  this  paternal  personation  is  the  one 
whose  conception  embraces  ail  the  types  of  creation,  and 
whose  plans  comprehend  all  the  sublime  developments  of  the 
universe,  and  the  no  less  sublime  schemes  of  redemption  and 
salvation.  He  i*s  of  infinite  and  invisible  intelligence,  knowing 
all  things,  presiding  over  all  things,  whose  throne  is  every- 
where, and  who  vests  himself  with  a merciful  but  unlimited 
sovereignty. 

(2.)  GtOd  as  Creator,  or  Logos. — The  next  relation  in  which 
God  stands  to  the  universe  is  that  of  producer.  In  order 
more  perfectly  to  apprehend  this  statement,  we  must,  in  imagi- 
nation, remove  from  the  universe  every  visible  object.  There 
will  then  remain,  as  before  shown,  an  iiawsible,  ubiquitous,  and 
eternal  intelligence,  that  is,  God,  in  whose  conception  as 
Father  there  is  an  ideal,  but,  as  yet,  invisible  universe,  perfect 
in  all  its  parts  and  relations. 

But  in  order  that  the  Deity  may  project  into  existing  space 
material  objects  corresponding  with  these  ideas,  in  other 
words,  that  he  may  create  planets  and  stars,  and  the  earth 
v^ith  its  innumerable  inhabitants — in  fine,  in  order  that  he  may 
bring  into  existence  inorganic  substance,  and  into  being  organic, 
instinctive,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  life,  preserving  them,  or 
transferring  them  into  other  and  higher  forms,  at  his  pleasure — 
he  must  evidently  stand  to  the  universe  no  longer  in  the  rela- 
tion of  a conceiver ; he  must  henceforth  become  producer,  or 
creator ; the  ideal  universe  must  become  visible. 

But  to  create  the  universe  is  such  a stupendous  act  as  to 
demand  the  whole  personality  of  God.  It  is  a work  of  infinity. 
When,  therefore,  the  eternal  intelligence  which  is  called  God 
stands  forth  in  space  and  calls  upon  his  ideas  to  take  visible 
and  physical  shape,  he  must  assume,  in  order  to  meet  this 
exigency  of  creation,  a new  center  of  relation;  it  must  be  such 
as  had  hitherto  been  unknown  to  the  universe,  though  eter- 
nally existing  in  the  divine  nature;  it  must  be  so  sharplj^  de- 
fined and  so  perfectly  distinct  from  all  other  relations,  as  to 


Theology  Pkopeil 


85 


gather  into  itself  the  divine  consciousness  and  become  a dis- 
tinction, tlian  which  no  distinction  can  be  more  clearly  or 
positively  announced. 

Logically,  this  may  be  termed,  in  onr  poverty  of  language, 
the  second  personation  of  deity.  He  appears  to  succeed  the 
first  personation  as  an  outward  act  chronologically  succeeds 
the  idea  corresponding  thereto.  He  may  without  impropriety 
be  termed  the  “Word.”  He  is  to  the  Godliead  somewhat  as 
language  is  to  tliought.  The  analogy  would  be  still  more 
perfect  if  language  had  independence  sufficient  to  speak  for 
itself.  He  is,  in  fine,  the  expression  of  the  infinite  intelligence 
otherwise  unknown,  (though  not  unknowing,)  and  as  silent  as 
an  uninhabited  eternit}*. 

He  is  the  light  which  shines  in  the  otherwise  impenetrable 
darkness.  He  is  the  one  who  was  in  the  beginning  with  God 
and  was  God:  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  and  without 
whom  was  not  any  thing  made  that  was  made.  He  is  God 
the  Creator, 

(3.)  God  as  Inspirer. — Objects  in  nature  may  be  conceived 
of  and  then  created.  But  should  all  processes  stop  at  that 
point  the  universe  would  be  very  far  from  complete.  It  would 
be  any  thing  but  the  universe  with  which  we  are  acquainted. 
The  staAuary  would  be  faultless  in  form,  but  lifeless  as  death. 
Creation,  to  be  perfect,  must  have  a systematizing  and  life- 
giving  force  infused  into  it.  And  this  is  what  has  been  done. 
The  Deity  has  not  only  conceived  of  and  created  tlie  universe, 
he  has  likewise  inspired  it.  What  would  have  been  a stellar 
universe  hung  in  suspense,  is  a universe  of  motion  and  har- 
mony ; what  would  have  been  a valley  of  bones,  though  in  the 
form  of  faultless  skeletons,  has  become  cities  teeming  with  life 
and  intelligence. 

But  what  work  can  have  taxed  the  divine  energies  to  greater 
extent  than  tliis  of  bestowing  life?  If  it  required  the  whole 
infinitude  of  God  to  conceive,  and  also  the  whole  to  create  the 
universe,  did  it  require  less  to  add  this  life-force,  together  with 
the  power  of  reproducing  life-force,  which  is  really  the  charm 
and  chief  glory  of  the  universe?  The  various  forces  of  nature 


36  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. 


are  already  discovered  by  science  to  be  but  one  force.  Each 
kind  is  convertible  into  the  other.  What  though  the  time 
should  come  (we  tliink  it  will  not)  when  the  life-forces,  phys- 
ical, mental,  and  spiritual,  are  found  likewise  convertible  into 
the  universal  forces,  and  the  reverse?  The  Christian  believer 
need  not  thereby  be  disturbed,  for  revelation  and  science  will 
then  harmonize,  and  all  force  will  be  traceable  to  no  other 
source  or  center  save  to  the  true  one — this  inspiring  persona- 
tion of  the  Godhead,  who  brooded  over  the  waters  of  the  infant 
earth,  and,  by  systematizing  things  created,  brought  order  out 
of  chaos;  who  also  breathed  the  breath-life  into  tlie  created,  but 
inanimate,  form  of  Adam,  making  him  a living  soul;  and  who 
now  gives  life-force  to  every  seed,  forsaking  it  at  no  moment 
until  it  blossoms  into  beauty  and  matures  into  perfection ; and 
who  is  likewise  the  source  of  inspiration  in  the  poet,  in  the 
artist,  in  the  musician,  as  well  as  in  the  prophet  of  God ; and, 
ill  fine,  who  inspires  in  the  bosom  of  humanity  that  which  is 
the  prime-force  of  every  right  thought  and  action,  and  no 
less  of  every  wrong  thought  and  action,  for  these  even  are 
only  right  forces  perverted  by  the  sinful  volitions  of  free 
beings.  When,  therefore,  the  consciousness  and  will  of  deity 
center  in  this  special  work  of  inspiring  the  created  uni- 
verse, is  there  not  a distinct  manifestation  of  the  Godhead? 
Does  not  also  this  distinct  manifestation  indicate  a distinct 
tendency  or  potentiality  existing  eternally  in  the  divine  nature? 
In  special  office  does  not  this  personation  proceed  after  or  from 
the  First  and  Second,  but  in  essential  majesty  is  he  not  their 
equal  ? May  we  not  be  pardoned  for  loving  and  adoring  God 
the  Tnspirer  as  our  friend  especially  near,  and  our  Sanctifier  ? 

Men  will  be  wiser,  anon,  when  they  realize  more  perfectly 
the  independent,  distinguishing,  and  sublime  office  and  nature 
of  this  Third  element  of  the  Trinity. 

Such  is  the  trinity  as  reported  to  us  from  the  nature  of 
things,  independent  of  the  Scriptures  or  the  dogmatics  of  the 
Ciuirch.  The  Trinity  of  the  Bible  may  mean  more  than  this ; 
but  that  the  trinity  of  deity  in  creation  means  as  much  as  this 


TlIEOLOUVf  rKOl’EK.  BY 

can  be  established  as  easily  and  as  firmly  as  any  thing  else 
relating  to  God. 

Can  we  escape  the  conclusion  that  there  are,  in  every  prod- 
uct of  the  created  universe,  a divine  idea  or  plan,  a divine  act 
or  expression  and  a divine  force  or  inspiration,  without  each 
of  winch  the  work  could  not  be  accomplished  and  perfected  ? 
These  distinctions,  as  involved  in  creation,  are  not  such,  per- 
haps. as  to  lead  us  to  conceive  of  deity  as  tliree  distinct 
persons,  as  the  term  person  is  usually  employed,  but  they 
are  such  as  to  indicate  that  there  are  in  deity  three  distinc- 
tions, and  three  distinct  sources  of  these  distinctions,  each 
equally  enthroned  in  the  intelligent,  the  eternal,  the  omnipo- 
tent, the  ubiquitous,  the  beneficent,  and  the  unific,  spirit  of  the 
Godhead.  They  appear  to  be  separate  manifestations  of  dis- 
tinct energies  of  will  and  of  distinct  conceptions  of  conscious- 
ness in  their  relations  to  every  thing  apart  from  deity,  but 
appear  to  be  absolutely  of  one  will  and  of  one  consciousness, 
as  related  to  deity  itself. 

All  illustrations  are  imperfect,  but  we  may  be  pardoned  for 
employing  the  following.*  Deity  is  like  a mountain-range 


* An  intellig-ent  shepherd  whom  Erasmus  met  among  the  mountains 
pointed  to  the  herb  trefoil  as  an  illustration  of  the  fact  that  the  doctrine  of 
the  eternal  Trinity  in  Unity  may  be  deduced  from  nature.  Dr.  Adam 
Clarke  is  of  the  opinion  that  Erasmus  was  convinced  by  this  illustration,  and 
ho  himself  gives  it  the  follovving  indorsement:  “These  three  are  one,  and 
yet  three  distinct.  There  is  the  same  root,  the  same  fibers,  the  same  pulpy 
substance,  the  same  membraneous  covering,  the  same  color,  the  same  taste, 
the  same  smell,  in  every  part,  and  yet  the  three  leaves  distinct ; but  each 
and  all  are  a continuation  of  the  stem,  and  proceed  from  the  same  root,” 

Augustine,  followed  by  Delitzsch  and  many  others,  employ  the  union  of 
spirit,  soul,  and  body,  in  man,  as  an  illustration  of  the  Sacred  Trinity.  Basil 
drew  a comparison  between  the  Trinity  and  the  colors  of  the  rainbow. 
Eadloff  deduced  an  illustration  of  the  Trinity  from  the  spirit,  soul,  and 
nerve-spirit  in  man. 

Certainly  some  of  these  illustrations  fulfil  the  coiiditions  of  the  Athanasian 
creed:  “We  worship  our  God  in  Trinity,  and  Trinity  in  Unity;  neither  con- 
founding the  persons  nor  dividing  the  substance.  For  there  is  one  person 
of  the  Father,  another  of  the  Son,  and  another  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  the 
Godhead  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  all  one ; tho 
^lory  equal,  the  majesty  co-eter«al”' 


88  OUTLINE  OF  Christian  Theologt. 


imderljing  a vast  continent,  with  three  distinct  peaks  appear- 
ing higli  above  the  surface;  they  are  one,  or  three,  according 
to  the  relation  in  which  they  are  viewed.  God  is  three,  as 
related  to  us,  but  one  in  reference  to  himself.* 


* ]?or  the  purpose  of  being  better  understood,  we  ventui'e  to  embody 
in  a diagram  the  ideas  above  set  forth. 


The  surface  A B C D represents  the  Godhead  before  the  creation  of  the 
universe.  It  is  a condition  of  essential  unity  with  possible  trinity. 

In  A B C will  be  found  Eternity,  Intelligence,  Will,  Omnipotence, 
Ubiquity,  Supreme  Goodness,  Spirituality,  and  Personality,  together  with 
the  unexerted  potentiality  or  tendency  of  conceiving  the  universe. 

In  A 0 D are  the  same  attributes  as  in  A B C,  excepting  that  the  unex- 
erted potentiality  of  conceiving  gives  place  to  the  unexerted  potentiality  or 
tendency  of  creating  the  universe. 

In  A D B are  the  same  attributes  as  above,  with  the  exception  of  the  kind 
of  potentiality  which  in  this  case  becomes  the  potentiality  or  tendency  of 
inspiring  the  i;niyerse, 


Theology  TKOi'En. 


39 


We  liave,  then,  as  a result  of  tins  reasoning  from  the  works 
of  creation,  respecting  the  existence  and  nature  of  God,  the 
following: 

lie  exists  as  an  eteriial  and  spiritual  being,  of  infinite  and 
universal  intelligence,^-  of  infinite  and  eternal  power,f  of  in- 
finite and  eternal  goodness,:}:  and  of  absolute  unity  and  relative 
trinit}^  All  these  attributes  exist  in  perfect  unity.  They  co- 
exist, to  the  exclusion  of  any  idea  save  that  of  one  God. 
“ So  one  that  there  are  no  other  gods;  so  one  that  there  can  he 
no  other  gods.”  “One  only  living  and  true  God,  eternal  in 
existence,  immutable  in  character,  and  infinite  in  all  his  attri- 
butes ” — the  Father,  the  Sou,  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 


EXISTENCE  AND  NATURE  OF  GOD  AS  REFLECTED 
FROM  THE  HUMAN  SOUL. 

The  argument  from  this  source  may  be  sub« 
divided  into : 

Conviction. — Any  conviction  which  is  actually  or 
well-nigh  universal,  is  correct.  The  conviction  that 


The  circle  BCD  represents  the  line  of  creation. 

The  surface  B E,  C F,  and  D G-,  represents  the  projection  or  manifestatioa 
of  the  Godhead  in  the  created  universe. 

In  the  space  B E 0 F are  all  the  attributes  found  in  A B C,  but  the  po- 
tentiality of  conceiving-  becomes  a reality,  and  an  ideal  universe,  as  such,  is 
complete.  And  thus  in  both  C F D G,  and  in  D G B E,  the  potentialities  of 
creathig  and  inspiring  become  realities,  and,  as  a result,  the  universe  is 
created  and  inspired,  then  also  the  original  and  eternal  distinctions  in  tho 
Godhead  are  manifested. 

The  diagram  may  suggest  to  some  minds  that  God  prefigures  in  himself 
the  sublime  principle  of  universal  evolution. 

* He  is,  therefore,  omniscient,  wise,  and  immutable.  Foreknowledge,  past 
knowledge,  and  all  knowledge,  are  equally  clear  to  him. 

+ He  is,  therefore,  in  possession  of  freedom,  omnipotence,  and  unlimited 
sovereignty. 

j;  He  is,  therefore,  possessed  of  holiness,  veracity,  love,  justice,  and  holy 
Intention,  which  appear  in  all  his  sovereign  decrees  and  providence,  ever  ex- 
ecuting wise  and  holy  purposes  for  the  'wejl-being  of  every  one  of  bH 
creatures. 


40  Outline  of  Chkistian  Theology. 


there  exists  a first  cause  possessed  of  all  the  attributes 
necessary  to  constitute  a first  cause,  is  actually,  or 
well-nigh,  universal. 

This  conviction  is,  therefore,  correct,  and  God,  as  an 
intelligent,  eternal,  universal,  and  omnipotent  being, 
exists ; for  one  not  having  these  attributes  could  not  be 
a first  cause. 

Ideas. — The  soul  is  in  possession  of  ideas.  They  must 
have  existed  before  man,  and  independent  of  him,  and 
in  some  cases  seem  to  exist  of  necessity.  But  ideas  can- 
not exist  except  in  connection  with  an  intelligent  per- 
sonality ; therefore  there  must  have  been,  at  any  conceiv- 
able point  of  time,  a pre-existent,  intelligent  personality. 

Instincts. — The  instinctive  wants  of  the  human 
soul  indicate  the  existence  of  something  which  can 
satisfy  those  wants.  The  soul  wants  a God  who  can 
originate  plans  for  its  well-being,  who  can  create 
objects  for  its  good,  and  who  can  inspire  it  vrith  life 
and  immortality.  The  soul,  therefore,  indicates  the 
existence  of  God,  as  Originato7\  (Father,)  Creator^ 
(Son,)  Inspirer^  (Holy  Ghost.) 

Beneficial  Influence. — A belief  of  the  soul  that 
is,  in  all  its  influences,  beneficial,  is  true.  The  belief 
in  a God  who  is  supremely  good  and  just,  is  in  nil 
respects  beneficial ; therefore  this  belief  is  true. 

Moral  Obligation.— The  human  soul  feels  under 
the  highest  moral  obligation  to  none,  save  one  who  is 
infinite  in  all  his  attributes  and  perfections.  The  human 
soul  feels  morally  bound  to  the  one  felt  to  be  God.  God 
is  therefore  infinite  in  all  his  attributes  and  perfections. 

EXISTENCE  AND  NATURE  OF  GOD  AS  REVEALED  IN 
THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES. 

Authority  of  the  Scriptures. — Before  due  weight 
can  be  given  to  an  argument  from  the  Scriptures,  tlicir 


Theology  Tkoper. 


41 


authority  must  be  first  established.  This  is  done  by 
appealing  to  various  classes  of  evidence : 

Presumptive  Evidence. — Man  is  dependent,  prone  to  evil, 
with  but  a short  probation,  and  with  much  to  gain  or  lose, 
as  his  information  from  others  better  qualified  than  himself 
is  reliable,  or  otherwise. 

Grod  is  infinite  in  goodness,  unlimited  in  his  knowledge,  and 
is,  in  one  of  his  personalities,  an  Inspirer. 

The  presumption  is,  therefore,  that  he  will  select  certain 
men  adapted  by  nature  and  circumstance  for  the  purpose,  and 
inspire  them,  that  they  may  give  to  the  world  a reliable  and 
universal  standard  of  appeal, 

G-enuixeness. — By  the  genuineness  of  the  Scriptures  is  meant 
that  they  were  written  by  the  persons  whose  signatures 
they  bear;  their  genuineness  is  strengthened  when  it  is 
shown  that  they  were  written  at  the  times,  in  the  places,  and 
under  the  circumstances  usually  claimed.  The  evidence  at 
this  point  is  yearly  increasing,  and  is  already  more  satisfactory 
than  that  which  can  be  brought  in  support  of  any  other  body 
of  existing  literature. 

(a.)  The  subject-matter  and  style,  the  languages  and  dialects, 
the  undesigned  coincidences,  and  apparent  discrepancies  of  the 
Scriptures,  constitute  the  internal  evidence  of  their  genuineness. 

(b.)  Their  contemporaneous  acknowledgment  by  believers, 
heretics,  and  heathen,  together  with  early  versions  in  the  Syriac, 
Latin,  Ethiopic,  and  Coptic,  constitute  the  external  evidence. 

Oredibleness. — By  the  credibleness  or  authenticity  of  the 
Scriptures  is  meant  that  the  character  of  the  writers,  and 
the  character  of  their  record,  is  such  as  ought  to  be  believed. 

(a.)  The  matter  and  style  of  the  Scriptures  show  that  the 
writers  were  not  deceivers  ; that  they  had  sound  common  sense  ; 
that  they  had  every  means  of  knowing  the  truth  of  what  they 
record ; that  they  could  not  have  been  easily  deceived ; that  their 
intentions  were  good ; that  they  were  self-sacrificing,  and  that 
they  would  not  have  written  as  they  did,  and  would  not  have 
appealed  to  their  contemporaries  as  they  did,  unless  they  had 
fully  believed  what  they  recorded.  The  character  of  the  writers 


42  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. 


is  such,  therefore,  as  to  entitle  them  to  belief.  The  facts  recorded 
are  also  highly  probable,  when  all  circumstances  are  taken  into 
account.  The  great  principles  which  pervade  the  Scriptures  are 
found  to  furnish  every-where  a healthy  stimulus  to  the  intellects, 
wills,  and  hearts  of  men,  and  to  give  the  prevailing  tone  to  all  the 
higher  and  purer  characteristics  of  our  modern  civilization.  They 
ought,  therefore,  upon  their  internal  evidence,  to  be  believed. 

(b.)  The  external  evidence  is  likewise  convincing.  The  facts 
recorded  in  the  Scriptures  are  in  harmony  with  contemporaneous 
history;  also  with  existing  institutions,  such  as  the  Lord’s  day, 
the  Lord’s  Supper,  the  rite  of  baptism,  and  historic  Christianity. 

Inspiration. — By  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  is  meant 
such  a divine  influence  from  the  Holy  G-host  to  the  minds 
and  liearts  of  the  writers  as  shall  enable  them  to  communicate 
to  others,  in  the  best  manner  possible,  a body  of  religious  facts 
and  doctrines  which  is  without  admixture  of  error,  and  which 
constitutes  a full,  complete,  and  infallible  standard  of  truth 
and  duty.  According  to  this  definition  the  inspired  mind  fully 
accomplishes  the  Spirit’s  intention.  The  Bible,  upon  the  sup- 
position of  its  inspiration,  is,  therefore,  in  the  original,  just  the 
book,  thought  for  thought  and  word  for  word,  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  intended. 

Its  inspiration  is  plenary,  (full,)  and  is  also  verbal  (word 
given)  if  that  is  necessary  to  fullness  or  accuracy. 

Inspiration  may  be  effected  by  visions:  Matt,  ii,  12,  13  ; Acts 
X,  10-13;  2 Cor.  xh,  1-4;  by  divine  messengers:  Judg.  vi, 
11,  etc.;  Luke  i,  11-19;  Acts  xxvii,  23;  by  an  audible  voice: 
Dan.  iv,  31 ; Acts  ix,  4 ; 2 Pet.  i.  It,  18 ; and  by  a direct  com- 
munication of  truth  to  the  mind  of  the  writer:  Matt,  x,  20; 
Gal.  i,  11,  12. 

The  grounds  supporting  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  are: 

(a.)  The  Scriptures  are  such,  in  other  respects,  that  if  they  are 
genuine  and  credible  they  afford  strong  presumptive  evidence 
of  special  inspiration, 

(b.)  The  writers  believed  themselves  to  be  inspired.  Exod.  iv, 
15,  16 ; Ezek.  iii,  4-10  ; John  xvi,  13,  14;  Gal.  i,  12;  Eev.  i,  12. 

(c.)  The  Old  Testament  Scriptures  were  appealed  to,  as  in- 
spired records,  by  the  highest  authority  known  to  this  world 
-=-Jesus  of  Nazareth, 


Tueology  Pkopek. 


43 


(d.)  Some  portions  of  the  Scriptures  arc  of  such  a character  as 
to  lift  them  forever  beyond  the  possibility  of  uninspired  compo- 
sition. Such  are  those  prophecies  which  were  published  long 
before  the  events  took  place,  and  which  are  of  a character  to 
preclude  guess-work,  and  which,  in  some  instances,  are  now  in 
process  of  fulfillment. 

Such,  also,  are  the  representations  respecting  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  likewise  the  inimitable  portraiture  of  that  Personage 
who  is  first  and  highest  among  the  children  of  men. 

(e.)  The  intuitive  impression  among  the  great  mass  of  men  in 
civilized  lands  is,  that  the  Scriptures  constitute  an  ultimate  appeal 
in  morals  and  religion,  and  tliat  they  are  of  divine  authority. 

(f.)  The  concurrence  of  the  foregoing  arguments— -namely,  the 
presumption  that  God  would  reveal  his  will,  the  genuineness  and 
the  credibility  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  convictions  of  men — 
constitutes  an  additional  link  in  the  evidence  for  both  the  in- 
spiration and  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures. 

Teachings  of  the  Scriptuhes  concerning  God. 
— Having  established  the  position  that  the  Scriptures 
are  authoritative,  we  are  prepared  to  take  up  the  third 
ground  of  evidence,  and  examine  the  truth  they  contain 
respecting  the  existence  and  nature  of  God.* 

God-head. — The  Bible  is  so  pervaded  with  representa- 
tions of  God’s  eternal  existence,  intelligence,  will-power,  om- 
nipotence, ubiquity,  goodness,  spirituality,  personality,  and 
oneness,  that  special  references  are  unnecessary. 

Trinity. — That  Deity  exists  as  a trinity  in  liis  relations 
to  the  universe  is  likewise  woven  into  the  Scriptures,  warp 
and  woof. 

Father.  — The  term  Father  is  frequently  employed,  to 
whom  every  attribute  of  deity  is  ascribed.  No  one  who  be- 
lieves the  Bible  doubts  that  the  Father  is  God.  His  distinctive 
triune  relation  to  the  universe,  as  its  originator,  but  not  its 
creator,  or  inspirer,  is  likewise  clearly  set  forth,  as  is  also  that 
game  relation  to  the  world  of  grace ; the  plans,  with  the  most 


See  prge  40, 


44  Outline  of  Ciiiustian  Theology. 


remarkable  uniformity,  are  referred  to  the  Father,  either  actually, 
or  by  implication,  but  the  execution  as  uniformly  to  another 
agent  or  agency. 

Son,  or  Logos. — Tlie  Scriptures  also  employ  the  term  Son 
in  connections  which  imply  that  he  is  no  less  God  than  is 
the  Father.*  His  intelligence  is  as  infinite,!  his  eternity  as  en- 
during,! his  power  as  omnipotent,  (the  work  of  creation,  preser- 
vation, and  government  being  ascribed  to  him,)  his  presence  is 
as  universal,§  and,  in  addition  to  this,  divine  honors  are  as 
freely  ascribed  to  him  as  to  the  Father.  I 

When,  therefore,  a multitude  of  concurrent  passages,  announc- 
ing in  various  forms  his  deity,  are  taken  into  account,  likewise 
the  impression  which  the  Scriptures  have  made  upon  the  vast 
majority  of  people  in  civilized  lands,  there  can  be  no  reasonable 
ground  for  denying  that  they  teach  that  the  Son  (Logos)  is  as 
really  God  as  is  the  Father.^ 

His  distinctive  personal  relations  to  the  schemes  of  creation 
and  redemption  are  also  clearly  and  variously  set  forth.  The 
works  ascribed  to  him  are,  with  striking  uniformity,  such  as  are 
attributed  to  neither  the  Father  nor  the  Spirit.  The  Son  is  rep- 
resented as  the  one  who  creates,  and,  in  outward  manner,  pre- 
serves and  governs  the  universe,**  and  yet  it  is  in  accordance 
with  the  Father’s  designs. ft  He  it  is,  also,  who  manifests,  as 
teacher,  exemplar,  and  Saviour,  the  Father’s  redemptive  plan  in 
the  person  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

Spirit. — The  term  Spirit,  or  its  equivalents,  Holy  Spirit  and 
Holy  Ghost,  is  no  less  scriptural,  and  is  employed  in  such  a 


* A class  of  passages  which  ascribe  the  same  things  to  Christ  as  to  the 
Father.  Eph.  v,  5;  Col.  ii,  2,  3 ; 2 Thess.  ii,  16 ; Titus  ii,  13. 

t Knowledge  of  men,  John  ii,  24,  25;  and  of  the  future.  Matt,  xxiv,  1-38; 
XXV,  31-46. 

! Rev.  i,  8.  § Matt,  xxviii,  20 ; Col.  i,  xvii.  ||  Luke  xxiv,  51,  52. 

^ The  Logos  is  not  son  in  any  such  sense  as  implies  subordination.  So  far 
as  he  is  God  he  is  not  son.  There  is  no  evidence  that  the  term  son  is  em- 
ployed in  the  New  Testament  as  a metaphysical  designation  respecting  his 
divine  nature.  The  term  refers  to  his  official  relations,  and  may  refer, 
prophetically  and  historically,  to  the  personality  represented  by  Jesus.  It 
may  have  reference  to  the  pre-existent  humanity  of  Jesus,  but  does  not,  wo 
think,  have  reference  to  the  eternal  Logos. 

**  John  i,  3-10;  Col.  i,  16,  17. 

ft  Matt,  vi,  10 ; John  v,  30 ; \i,  38 ; Heb.  x,  7,  9» 


OiriUSTOLOGY. 


45 


manner  as  to  imply  a distinct  ofRcial  character,  together  with 
God-head  and  personality  equal  to  that  of  the  Father  and 
Son. 

The  divine  attributes,  already  repeatedly  enumerated  as  de- 
scriptive of  the  Father  and  Son,  are  bestowed  equally  upon  tho 
Spirit.  Works  Avhicli  deity  alone  can  do  are  attributed  to  tho 
Spirit,  and  divine  honors  are  ascribed  to  him.  Properties  be- 
longing only  to  personality,  such  as  understanding,  volition, 
affections,  and  personal  acts,  are  as  distinctly  his  as  they  are  the 
Father’s  or  the  Son’s. 

He  not  only  broods  over  the  works  of  creation,  and  inspires 
universal  life,*  but  he  may  be  sinned  against, f grieved, J and 
pleased;  § he  also  communes  with, I testifies  to,^  inspires,**  re- 
generates,ft  justifies, and  sanctifies  §§  mankind. 

Not  only  do  the  Scriptures  thus  indirectly  represent  a trinity, 
in  these  three  distinct  manifestations  of  the  God-head,  but  they 
also  repeatedly  associate  the  three  distinctions  so  as  to  constitute 
but  one  God.ll  The  Scriptures  thus  clearly  and  definitely  sup- 
port the  teachings  of  both  universal  nature  and  the  human  soul 
respecting  the  existence  and  character  of  God  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 


OHEISTOLOGY. 

DOCTRINES  CONCERNING  THE  GOD- 
MAN. 

Strictly  speaking,  a God-man  is  the  union  of 
Deity  and  humanity  in  one  external  person. 


* Gen.  i,  2.  + Luke  xii,  10.  $ Epli.  iv,  30.  § Acts  xv,  28. 

ii  2 Cor.  xiii,  14.  ^ Acts  xx,  23.  **  2 Pet.  i,  21.  +t  Titus  iii,  5. 

$$  1 Cor.  vi,  11.  §§  Rom.  xv,  16. 

nil  There  are  certain  attributes  ascribed  to  Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  con- 
jointly 5vith  tho  Father : Eternity,  Rev.  i,  8, 11,  17 ; Ileb.  ix,  14.  Intelli- 
gence and  Ubiquity,  Col.  ii,  3;  Eph.  i,  17 ; Matt,  xxdii,  20;  John  il,  24,  25; 
1 Cor.  ii,  10,  11.  Goodness,  Acts  x,  33.  Unity  and  Trinity,  Dout.  vi,  4; 
Matt,  xviil,  19 ; 2 Cor.  xiii,  14 ; 1 Jolin  v,  7. 


46  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. 


The  term  is  usually  applied  to  tliat  temporary 
union  of  the  Second  personation  of  the  God- 
head with  humanity  in  the  person  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth.  But  a clear  interpretation  of  the 
Scriptures  will  require  perhaps  that  we  go 
beyond  such  limitations. 

PRE-EXISTENT  SPIRITUAL  GOD-MAN. 

We  now  enter  a field  which  science  cannot  ex- 
plore except  inferentially.  It  is  a spiritual  and 
not  a physical  existence  to  which  the  subject  in- 
troduces us. 

Presumptive  Evidence. — Prom  what  we  have 
already  learned  concerning  the  Deity  it  is  reasonable 
to  conclude  that,  in  a spiritual  as  well  as  in  a physical 
universe,  he  will  begin  a work  of  creation  so  as  to  pro- 
ceed with  it  progressively  until  the  most  complete  and 
most  perfect  type  possible  is  attained.  If  modern 
science  has  reached  one  impregnable  conclusion,  it  is 
this  of  progressiveness  in  the  order  of  creation.  We 
are  to  conclude,  therefore,  if  there  is  a spiritual  uni- 
verse, (of  this  fact  the  Scriptures  leave  no  room  for 
doubt,)  that  there  has  been  progress  in  its  creations 
from  lower  to  higher  types,  and  that  its  last  creation 
will  be  the  completest,  than  which  nothing  can  be  com- 
pleter ; if  that,  creation  is  a person  he  will  be  the  one 
who  must  occupy  the  throne  and  perfectly  embody  the 
Deity. 

Scripture  Evidence  ; 

Pre-existent  Angelic  Nature  involving  Gradations. — 
There  can  be  no  question  that  the  Scriptures  recognize 
gradations  among  the  spiritual  intelligences.  Angels,*’ 


CllKlSTOLOGY. 


47 


“ arcliaiigels,”  “ cherubs,”  and  “seraphs,”  with  the  chief  angel 
“Micliael,”  as  leader;  also  “Satan,”  higher,  perhaps,  than  any 
other  before  his  fall,  are  distinctions  involving  differences. 

Pre-existent  Human  Nature  involving  Gradations. 
— But  besides  this  angelic  nature  there  is  revealed  to  us  a 
still  higher  spiritua,!  nature,  even  the  completest  possible,  in 
which  the  Logos  fairly  embodies  himself;  so  complete  is  it  in 
its  highest  type  that  it  seems  rather  a child  of  God  than  a 
creation.  The  first-born  of  every  creature.  This  type  of  spir- 
itual existence  is  pre-existent  humanity,  and  culminating  in  a 
pre-existent  spiritual  God-man.  The  minute,  repeated,  and  ex- 
plicit representations  of  the  Old  Testament  upon  this  subject  will 
bear  closer  inspection  than  they  have  yet  received,  or  than  can 
here  be  given.  We  commend  the  following  passages  to  the 
attention  of  the  reader:  Gen.  iii,  8;  xvi,  9-14;  xvii,  1-22; 
xviii;  xix,  1-11;  xxii,  15-18;  xxxi,  11-14;  xxxii,  24-32; 
Exod.  iii;  iv,  1-17;  xxiii,  20-25;  Josh,  v,  13-15;  vi;  Judg. 
xiii,  2-25;  Dan.  iii,  25;  Mai.  iii,  1. 

Can  this  “man”  and  this  “angel  of  the  Lord,”  who  bears 
such  names,  manifests  such  qualities,  performs  such  acts, 
liaving  such  attendants,  being  well-nigh  unlimited  and  yet 
often  under  limitations,  and  who  seems  to  prefigure  perfectly  in 
his  words  and  deeds  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  be  less  or  other  than 
pre-existent  humanity  in  union  with  the  eternal  Logos  ? 


THE  HISTOKIC  GOD-MAN. 

Notice  first,  as  in  the  former  case,  the  pro- 
gressive tendencies  in  the  creation  of  the  physical 
universe.  Taking  the  earth  for  a type,  we  find 
its  earlier  conditions  devoid  of  organization  and 
life. 

It  was,  in  this  state,  simply  an  evidence  of  the 
existence  and  nature  of  God ; his  eternity  was  im- 
plied, his  power  manifested,  and  his  goodness  fore- 


48  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. 

shadowed.  Vegetable  and  brute  life  were  the 
next  objects  of  creative  power ; these  were  a still 
higher  and  more  pronounced  evidence  of  deity, 
but  yet  only  evidence. 

Next  man  was  created.*  Man  dilFers  from  all 
which  precedes  him  in  the  physical  universe  in 
this,  that  while  all  else  constitutes  merely  mute 
evidence  of  the  existence  and  character  of  God, 
man  is  both  the  highest  evidence  and  also  an  in- 
telligent witness.  Brutes  do  not  ask  wiio  made 
them.  In  this  respect  they  are  forever  separated 
from  man,  who,  with  the  first  dawning  of  intelli- 
gence, continues  to  repeat  this  question  respecting 
himself  and  all  things  else,  until  external  and  in- 
ternal evidences  produce  the  overwhelming  con- 
viction that  God  is  the  universal  author  : man  is 
then  intellectually  satisfied,  and  gives  his  testi- 
mony. If  man,  in  himself  considered,  is  the  high- 
est type  of  physical  creation,  and  if,  at  some  point 
in  his  history,  he  be  united  with  the  Ci*eator  so  as  to 
constitute  that  which  may  be  appropriately  repre- 
sented by  the  term  God-man,  then  in  him  must  the 
maximum  of  the  physical  as  well  as  the  maximum 
of  the  spiritual  creation  be  reached. 

The  striking  symbol,  The  first  and  last,”  will 
appropriately  characterize  him.  He  will  be  the 
highest  possible  evidence  of  the  deity — the  infal- 
lible witness  of  the  deity,  the  highest  and  grandest 
proof  of  deity,  and  will  himself  embody  deity. 


* For  a fuller  discussion  of  man's  creation,  see  “ Origin  of  Man,"  page  55. 


OimiSTOI;OGY. 


49 


JESUS,  THE  HISTORIC  GOD-MAN. 

The  evidence  of  this  fact  is  accumulative  and 
ever  increasing. 

The  Evidence  of  his  God-natuke  rests  upon  : 

(1.)  Recorded  facts — including  events  associated  witli  his 
birtli ; events  attending  his  ministry;  the  account  of  liis  miracles, 
which  were  public,  numerous,  carefully  scrutinized,  acknowl- 
edged to  have  taken  place,  which  were  overwlielmingly  con- 
vincing, and  wrought  in  his  own  name;  together  with  the  facts 
connected  with  his  departure  from  the  world — are  in  sucli 
perfect  keeping  with  the  supposition  that  he  was  God-man, 
that  they  cannot  possibly  be  made  to  harmonize  witli  any  other 
liypothesis. 

(2.)  Public  opinion,  commencing  with  the  apostles,  including 
Christian  and  heathen  testimony,  from  first  to  last,  so  strongly 
fortify  the  supposition  of  his  God-nature  as  to  allow  of  no 
other. 

(3.)  The  same  may  be  said  respecting  the  personal  testimony 
of  Jesus. 

(4.)  The  universal  report  of  Christian  consciousness,  and, 

(5.)  The  voiceless,  but  overwhelming,  evidence  of  Christian- 
ity itself  are  inexplicable  upon  any  other  theory. 

The  Eyidexce  of  his  Man-nature  rests  upon  : 

(1.)  Recorded  facts,  such  as  Ids  birth,  his  development  into 
manhood,  incidental  allusions  to  his  weariness,  hunger,  and 
tliirst ; in  fine,  the  whole  bearing  of  his  life,  and  the  universal 
impression  he  made  upon  his  companions,  announce,  beyond 
question,  his  manhood. 

(2.)  Contemporaneous  opinion,  including  that  of  the  inspired 
writers,  that  of  his  personal  friends  and  religious  enemies. 

(3.)  His  own  language  and  conduct,  such  as  the  different 
terms  he  employed  to  designate  himself,  indirect  allusions  to 
himself,  to  his  kindred,  and  companions,  are,  perhaps,  tho 
strongest  evidence. 


4 


50  Outline  op  Christian  Theology. 


The  Evidence  of  his  God-man  Nature  rests  upon  : 

(1.)  The  fact  that  two  natures,  the  one  divine,  the  other  human, 
were  historically  united  in  the  person  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

(2.)  The  Scriptures  represent  him  as  a personality  without  a 
like  in  the  universe ; yet  in  all  the  diversities  of  character  dis- 
played there  is  unity,  harmony,  and  consistency.  His  trials 
and  triumphs;  his  temptations  and  his  spotless  integrity;  his 
humility  and  his  sublime  exaltation;  his  death  and  his  triumph- 
ant resurrection ; his  life  on  earth  and  his  departure  from  it 
through  the  clouds  parted  and  rolled  back  as  the  curtains  of 
another  world ; the  shouts  of  derision  from  his  fellow-men  and 
his  arrival  in  the  courts  of  heaven,  where  innumerable  multi- 
tudes fall  before  him,  casting  their  crowns  at  his  feet  and  say- 
ing, day  and  niglit,  “Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  Almighty, 
which  was,  and  is,  and  is  to  come,”  and  saying  with  a loud 
voice,  “Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  Was  slain  to  receive  power 
and  wisdom  and  strength  and  honor  and  glory  and  blessing  ” 
— blend,  and  announce  a human  and  divine  personality.  Every 
thing  that  can  be  predicated  of  God,  and  every  thing,  save 
sin,  that  can  be  predicated  of  man,  can  be  predicated  of 
this  God-man.  So  intimate  is  the  union  that  the  singular  and 
not  the  plural  pronoun  must  be  employed  to  designate  it.  So 
intimate,  also,  that  the  name's  and  attributes  of  each  are  to  be 
applied  to  the  union  of  the  two  natures,  but  not  so  united  that 
the  names  and  attributes  of  the  one  nature  can  be  ascribed  to 
the  other.  Mary  was  the  mother  of  Jesus,  but  was  not  “ the 
mother  of  God.”  The  divine  nature  knew  all  things;  the 
human  nature  was.  not  conscious  of  the  vast  stores  of  infinite 
wisdom  in  the  divine  nature,  though  present  in  the  same 
bosom.  The  human  nature  could  suffer  and  die  like  that  of 
any  other  mortal,  but  the  divine  nature  could  not  suffer  or  die, 
unless  God  can.  The  eternal  intelligence  which  in  the  trinity 
of  the  God-head  conceives  in  one  case,  objectifies  in  another, 
and  inspires  in  a third,  though  distinct  in  manifestation,  are  of 
the  same  essence — divine,  therefore  essentially  one.  But  the 
two  consciousnesses  and  wills  in  the  God-man  are  not  of  the 


ClIRlSTOLOGY. 


51 


same  nature — tlie  one  boinp:  derived  from  deity,  tlie  otiier  from 
luimanity — and  are,  therefore,  not  one,  but  essentially  two. 

(3.)  Ilis  contemporaries,  both  friends  and  Iocs,  oiten  appre- 
hended the  fact  of  a double  nature.  Their  discussions  among 
themselves  betray  it,  and  their  conduct,  under  various  circum- 
stances, plainly  confesses  it.  The  people,  on  more  than  one 
occasion,  discovered  a supernatural  powder  prompting  his 
graceful  gestures,  beaming  from  his  animated  eye,  thundering 
in  liis  terrible  invective  against  hypocrisy,  such  as  required  no 
transtignration  to  demonstrate : “it  was  that  expression,  that 
inconceivable,  naked  expression,”  which  disclosed  the  presence 
of  a power  in  that  man  which  was  more  than  human. 

(4.)  Universal  history  and  prophecy,  so  far  as  their  pages 
have  been  turned,  show  that  all  things,  past  and  to  come, 
in  heaven  and  on  earth,  now  radiate  from  the  God-man.  The 
glories  of  the  God-head  find  in  him  a new  and  sublime  point 
of  departure,  a point  than  wliich  none  in  eternity  is  more 
radiant.  Man,  too,  finds  his  normal  relations  restored,  his 
history  and  his  future  explained,  and  made  to  revolve  hence- 
forth and  forever  about  this  center  of  universal  attraction — 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God. 

(5.)  Science,  so  far  as  it  has  gone,  points  to  the  incarnation 
of  God  in  man.  And  when  it  pushes  its  investigations  beyond 
its  present  narrow  limits,  it  will  find,  not  merely  an  anticipa- 
tion which  prefigures  man  in  the  lowest  forms  of  animal  life, 
but  will  also  find  that  all  things,  from  the  beginning,  have 
prophesied  and  prefigured  the  coming  of  him  who  is  chief 
among  ten  thousand,  and  the  one  altogether  lovely ; the  one  so 
high  in  the  scale  of  universal  being  that  none  can  be  higher, 
in  whom  manifestation  has  reached  its  culmination.* 

THE  PEE-EXISTENT  GOD-MAN  ESSENTIALLY  IDEN- 
TICAL WITH  THE  HISTOEIC  GOD-MAN. 

That  there  was  a cliiFerence  in  certain  respects 
must  be  admitted.  The  embodiment  in  tlie  one 

* The  superiority  of  the  Son  of  man  to  any  other  created  intelligence  is 
clearly  stated,  Heb.  i,  1-14 ; 1 Pet.  iii,  22 ; Matt,  xiii,  41. 


52  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. 


case  was  spiritual,*  in  the  other  case  physical;! 
the  one  condition  could  have  felt  nothing  of  the 
tendency  given  to  the  race  in  the  transgression  of 
Adam  ; the  other  condition,  connected  with  a body 
from  a mother  belonging  to  the  fallen  race,  though 
probably  among  the  purest  and  most  perfect  of  all 
women,  would  seem  to  have  been  to  some  extent 
alFected  thereby.  But  that  they  are  essentially  the 
same  is  supported  by  the  strongest  evidence. 

Official  Chakacter. — Keviev^ing  the  Old  Testa- 
ment passages  (p.  47)  one  cannot  fail  to  notice  the 
striking  similarity  between  the  Angel  of  Jehovah  and 
Jesus  Christ.  Transpose  the  historic  relations  and  they 
will  each  fill  the  place  of  the  other.  They  both  ap- 
pear in  the  form  of  humanity.  They  both  leave  the 
glory  of  heaven  to  instruct,  encourage,  and  save  man- 
kind. They  both  act  the  part  of  mediator.  They  both 
receive  divine  honors,  perform  divine  acts,  and  speak 
as  only  God  has  a right  to  speak.  Paul  likewise  ex- 
pressly declares  their  identity.]: 

Positive  Statements  of  Jesus. — Nothing  but  an  in- 
definite mysticism  will  attempt  to  harmonize  certain 
words  of  Jesus  with  any  other  supposition.  We  instance 
the  following  passages  without  comment : ‘ ‘ What  and 
if  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  ascend  up  where  he  was 
before  ? ”§  “ And  no  man  hath  ascended  up  to  heaven, 

but  he  that  came  down  from  heaven,  even  the  Son  of 
Man  which  is  in  heaven. ”||  “And  now,  O Father, 
glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self,  with  the  glory 
which  I had  with  thee  before  the  world  was.  ”11  We 


* Judges  xiii,  20 ; also  all  the  manifestations. 

t Rom.  viii,  3 ; 1 T^m.  iii,  16.  $ 1 Cor.  x,  4.  § John  vi,  62. 

H John  iii,  13.  % John  xvii,  5 ; Heb.  ii,  17 ; x,  5 ; Phil,  ii,  7. 


ClIKISTOJiOGV. 


53 


may  add  that  the  force  and  grandeur  of  tliis  entire 
chapter  (John  xvii)  is  well-nigh  lost  upon  any  other 
supposition  than  the  one  herein  involved. 


DOCTRINES  INVOLVED  IN  THE  THEORY  THAT  JESUS 
IS  THE  GOD-MAN. 

Incarnation. — -This  term  involves  that  act  of  deity 
in  which,  according  to  the  plan  of  the  Father,  and  by 
the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  pre-existent  God- 
man  united  himself  with  a physical  body  and  with 
fallen  human  nature  in  a virgin  mother.  This  doctrine 
is  supported  by: 

Presumptive  Evidence,  derived  from  the  Nature  op 
THE  Case. — In  order  for  God  to  be  united  with  man,  the  first 
personation  of  deity,  the  Father,  must  devise  the  method,  tliat 
the  harmony  of  things  may  be  preserved : the  second  persona- 
tion of  deity,  the  Logos,  must  be  the  chief  agent  and  the 
divine  element ; and  the  third  personation,  the  Holy  Ghost, 
must  inspire  the  human  life  of  Jesus.  A birth  dependent  upon 
the  ordinary  methods  of  procreation,  or  a creation  like  that  of 
Adam,  would  not  meet  the  case  required;  nor  could  angelic 
being  answer  the  conditions. 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  could  not 
be  God-man  except  by  incarnation. 

The  New  Testament  Records. — The  account  given  by 
Luke  (i,  34,  35)  is  brief  but  explicit;  there  is  no  way  of 
evading  the  representation  save  by  denying  it,  and  denial  in 
this  instance  is  only  evasion. 

Personal  Life  and  Character. — There  is  no  expla- 
nation of  the  majesty  displayed  in  the  life  of  Jesus  so  satisfac- 
tory as  that  theory  which  unites  in  him  the  deity  of  God  and 
the  humanity  of  man,  by  incarnation. 

Mediation. — This  term  has  reference  to  that  official 
position  occupied  by  the  God-man  between  deity  and 
humanity,  whereby  he  is  enabled  to  provide  the  condi- 


6i  Outline  of  Chkistian  Theology. 


tions,  the  means,  and  the  agencies  by  which,  though 
legally  separated,  man  is  brought  near  to  God,  and 
God  is  brought  near  to  man,  through  natural  or  in- 
spired inclinations  of  each  toward  the  other.  This 
doctrine  is  supported  by : 

Presumptive  Evidence  from  the  Nature  of  the  Case. 
— A God-man  such  as  Jesus  represents  is  the  only  perfect 
and  obvious  connection  between  God  and  man.  The  pure 
Logos  cannot,  of  course,  directly  associate  with  man.*  The 
spiritual  pre-existent  God-man  may  communicate  with  men, 
and  has  done  so,  but  it  is  not  strictly  compatible  with  his 
nature  that  he  walk  and  eat  with  them,  and  gather  about  him 
disciples,  and  be  exposed  to  the  ordinary  temptations  and  trials 
of  humanity.  But  these  are  conditions  of  perfect  mediation, 
and  it  requires  tlie  historic  God-man  to  comply  therewith. 

In  fine,  the  nature  of  the  case  requires  that  the  God-man 
should  be  such  as  to  constitute  a definite  middle-ground, 
bordering  upon  the  deity  on  the  one  side,  and  upon  humanity 
on  the  other,  where  all  the  great  schemes  mutually  relating  to 
God  and  man  may  be  worked  out.  The  execution  of  all  the 
plans  must  be  intrusted  to  one  whose  outstretched  hands  can 
naturally  clasp  both  God  and  man.  If,  for  illustration,  it 
should  become  necessary  in  the  evolutions  of  history,  for  God 
to  manifest  himself  perfectly  to  man,  it  must  be  in  the  person 
of  a man  who  can  wield  all  the  attributes  belonging  to  God, 
and  manifest,  by  word  and  act,  all  his  perfections.!  Or 
should  man’s  condition  become  such  as  to  need  reconciliation, 
propitiatory  sacrifice,  atonement  and  redemption,  then  these 
grand  achievements  must  stand  upon  this  common  ground ; 
no  other  field  can  be  found  large  enough,  or  in  any  way  suit- 
able. J And  should  the  physical  universe,  in  anticipation  of 
man’s  misfortune,  be  so  deeply  in  sympathy  with  him  as  to 
store  up  symbols  of  death,  and  continually  utter  her  groans  of 
distress, § then,  too,  its  redemption,  restoration,  spiritualization, 


^ Exod.  xxxiii,  20-23,  t Col.  ii,  9,  $ Acts  iv,  12.  § Korn.  vUi,  22. 


ANTUKOrOLOGY. 


55 


and  transformation  into  a new  heaven  and  a new  earth,  where- 
in dwolleth  righteousness,  must  be  wrought  out  by  the  hands 
of  the  liistoric  Grod-inan  before  his  official  mission  is  accom- 
plished, and  before  all  things  are  submitted,  as  they  were  at 
the  first,  into  the  hands  of  God  himself. 

Scripture  Representation. — The  Scriptures  represent  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  express  image  of  God’s  person,  that  he 
wields  all  the  attributes  of  Jehovah,  and  manifests  all  his 
perfections.  They  also  represent  that  through  his  death  and 
sufferings  atonement  is  made  ’ for  man,  and  a universal  re- 
demption provided. 

The  Demands  of  the  Human  Soul. — Mankind  has  al- 
ways been  in  search  for  such  a mediator  and  such  a medi- 
ation as  the  God-rnan  provides  ; inspired  and  uninspired,  men 
have  always  prophesied  the  coming  of  such  a one,  and  have 
always  been  satisfied  with  Jesus  Christ,  so  far  as  they  have 
believed  in  him. 


ANTHROPOLOGY. 
DOCTRINES  CONCERNING  MAN. 

This  subject  naturally  divides  itself  into  : 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  MAN. 

Man,  like  every  other  object  in  the  universe,  was 
created  by  the  direct  will  and  power  of  God, 

Scientific  Evidence.— Science  confirms  the  state- 
ment by  showing  both  that  man  has  not  long  existed, 
and  that  no  new  specimens  of  creation  have  ever  appeared 
without  a direct  creating  interposition. 

Scripture  Evidence, — The  account  in  Genesis  is 
unmistakable,  and,  as  yet,  successfully  stands  against 
the  various  attacks  of  modern  infidelity.  It  represents 


50  Outline  of  Christian  THEOLoar. 


that  mankind  was  originally  created  a single  pair,  male 
and  female,  and  that  they  were  placed  by  God,  not  many 
thousand  years  ago,  in  a fitting  habitation  called  the 
“pleasant  land,”  “Eden.”  It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind 
that  science  is  now  coming  to  the  support  of  these 
definite  revelations.* 


THE  NORMAL  CHARACTER  OF  MAN. 

Completion. — Man  was  originally  created  in  a state, 
not  of  perfection,  strictly  speaking,  but  of  completion. 
He  was  made  physically,  mentally,  and  spiritually 
faultless — even  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  God.f 
The  Scriptures  thus  represent  him,  and,  notwithstanding 
sad  changes  in  his  condition,  the  greatness  of  man, 
his  high  ancestry,  and  the  grandeur  of  his  original  con- 
dition, is  frequently  disclosed,  even  in  his  state  of  ruin. 

Distinguished  from  the  Brute. — Man  was  distin- 
guished from  the  rest  of  the  animal  creation  by  having 
the  “breath  of  life.”  It  may  be  difficult  to  compre- 
hend the  full  import  of  this  language.  But  it  must 
imply  a something,  at  least,  which  is  independent  of 
physical  and  mental  organism. 

Man  has  a God-consciousness,  power  of  speech,  and 
a faculty,  or  a combination  of  faculties,  which  enable 
him  to  pass  beyond  the  bounds  of  experience,  charac- 
teristics Avhich  belong  not  to  brutes  whose  lives  perish.J 

Freedom. — Man  was  created  morally  free.  Such  a 
condition  involves  risk,  but  the  highest  type  of  creation 


^ Especially  is  this  true  of  geology,  philology,  and  ethnology, 
t Upon  the  theory  of  a pre-existent  God-man  how  suggestive  is  the 
language!  (Gen.  i,  26;  ii,  7.)  We  are  introduced  into  the  very  family  of 
God.  The  grandeui*  of  the  human  form  dawns  upon  us.  No  wonder  the 
Apostle  exclaimed,  1 Cor.  vi,  19-20. 
t Psa.  xlix,  20. 


Antilkopologv. 


57 


requires  it.  Man  may  be  complete,  but  not  perfect, 
without  both  the  power  and  the  exercise  of  freedom. 
Freedom  or  an  irresponsible  machine  is  the  only 
alternative. 

Limitations  and  LiABn.iTiES. — Man  was  created 
with  certain  limitations  and  liabilities.  Both  these 
conditions  are  implied  in  man’s  probation  and  develop- 
ment. They  were  not  such  as  to  occasion,  necessarily, 
unhappiness,  but  were  such  that  man  could  obtain  by 
them  what  God  could  not  bestow — a self-developed 
character. 

Related  to  Law. — Man  was  created  under  a moral 
and  legal  government,  whose  principles  are  in  accord- 
ance with  those  of  eternal  and  essential  truth.  Being 
exposed  to  temptations,  and  consequently  to  sin,  it 
became  necessary  that  he  should  be  placed  under  such 
a government  as  would  lessen  his  liability  to  sin  and 
control  the  natural  tendencies  of  his  transgression,  if 
committed.  The  good  of  the  universe  required  this, 
and  also  required  that  moral  laws  shall  be  as  exact  as 
those  of  gravitation.  Not  the  slightest  thing,  even  a 
thought  or  idle  word,  can  be  left  out  of  the  account. 
The  law  must  be  perfect  as  relating  to  God,  juH  as  re- 
lating to  one’s  neighbor,  and  good  as  relating  to  all  the 
subjects  under  it.  The  penalty  must  also  be  severe  in 
proportion  to  the  exactness  and  justness  of  the  law. 

THE  FALL  OF  MAN. 

Under  this  division  are  treated  : 

Actual  Sin. — It  is  the  voluntary  transgression  of 
known  law.  The  character  of  sin,  whether  committed 
against  God,  against  one’s  neighbor,  or  one’s  self, 
whether  an  act  of  omission  or  commission,  whether 
outward  or  inward,  is  always  essentially  the  -same ; it 


58  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. 


springs  from  a tendency'  to  lawlessness ; it  indicates  a 
destitution  of  love  to  God ; and  is  voluntaiily  and  intel- 
ligently committed.  NTo  man  sins  until  he  has  con- 
sented to  do  so. 

Original  Sin. — This  term  is  not  the  most  fortunate; 
it  means  that  tendency  introduced  into  human  nature 
by  the  conduct  of  our  first  parents,  which  renders  it 
certain  that  every  intelligent  member  of  the  race  will 
be  a sinner  guilty  of  voluntary  and  known  transgres- 
sion. It  is  a transmitted  habitude,  and  certainly  indi- 
cates that  man  is  not  what  God  made  him.  The  fact 
of  this  appalling  condition  stares  us  in  the  face  from 
every  page  of  history.  Its  universality  and  its  uni- 
formity of  character  show  that  it  is  an  element  inherent 
in  fallen  human  nature ; it  must  either  have  been  im- 
planted directly  by  the  Creator,  a supposition  which 
is  to  be  rejected  as  incredible,  or  else  it  must  have 
come  upon  man’s  nature  in  consequence  of  some  abo- 
riginal calamity,  a supposition  both  reasonable  and 
scriptural. 

Adam’s  Sin.— By  this  term  is  meant  that  voluntary 
transgression  of  known  law  by  our  first  parents  which 
resulted  in  actual  sin  in  their  case,  and  in  original  sin 
in  case  of  every  other  member  of  the  race.  It  was  en- 
tirely without  excuse,  Adam  knew  perfectly  what  was 
God’s  requirement.  The  command  given  was  positive 
and  unmistakable.  It  involved  moral  obligation,  but 
required  the  performance  of  no  arduous  task;  absti- 
nence alone  was  enjoined.  In  possession  of  this  clear 
knowledge,  and  having  conditions  so  easy  of  fulfill- 
ment, it  cannot  appear  that  God  occasioned  the  sin  of 
Adam ; every  thing  was  right  so  far  as  God  was  con- 
cerned, Nor  was  Satan  the  author  of  the  transgression. 
To  be  sure,  God  gave  Adam  his  nature,  and  the  Tempter 
came  in  the  form  of,  or  in  some  way  connected  with, 


Anthropology. 


59 


^‘Taluisli^  translated  “serpent,”*  but  lie  could  appeal 
only  to  correct  principles  in  liuinan  nature — there  Avere 
no  others.  But  by  subtle  and  false  reasoning  he  influ- 
enced those  principles,  and  helped  bring  about  an  ab- 
normal action  of  them ; then  man  yielded,  voluntarily 
and  intelligently  choosing  the  wrong ; it  was  in  this 
extreme  and  aggravated  abuse  of  moral  freedom  that 
the  fall  and  ruin  of  the  race  was  accomplished. 

The  Consequence  of  Sin. — To  Adam  and 
his  posterity  matters  ^re  the  reverse  of  what 
would  have  resulted  had  he,  by  compliance  with 
the  commands  of  God,  added  to  human  nature 
the  tendency  to  obedience.  He  would  thus  have 
propagated  in  the  race  that  which  Avould  have 
probably  fortified  it  forever  against  transgres- 
sion. That  act  of  self-gratification  and  lawless- 
ness, on  the  contrary,  gave  human  nature  a 
stab  from  wliich  there  is  no  natural  recovery. 
Self-gratification  and  lawlessness  ever  after  ad- 
hered to  the  nature  of  man.  Sin  became  as  nat- 
ural as  the  breatin  The  effects  of  that  sin  were 
quickly  noticeable.  The  moment  before  it  Adam 
was  wise  enougli  to  equal  an  Agassiz  in  forming  a 
nomenclature  for  the  objects  of  creation,  but  the 
moment  after  he  seemed  to  have  lost  the  first 
principles  of  knowledge,  attempting  to  hide  from 
an  omniscient  eye  under  a garden  shade-tree. 

Baleful,  too,  were  the  consequences — the  loss  of 
every  thing  man  should  desire,  and  exposure  to 
bodily  death,  to  spiritual  death,  and  to  eternal 


^ 2 Cor,  xi,  3 ; Rev,  xii,  9 ; xx,  2, 


GO  Outline  of  Oiihistian  Theology. 


death,  even  the  future  and  everlasting  separation 
of  man  from  God  ; such  are  the  direct  and  indirect 
consequences  of  actual  and  original  sin. 


SOTERIOLOGY. 

DOCTRINES  CONCERNING  SALVATION. 

Salvation  grows  out  of  the  infinite  philan- 
thropy of  God. 

THE  GROUND  OF  SALVATION. 

The  sole  ground  of  salvation  is  the  atonement 
of  Christ. 

(1.)  By  the  atonement  is  meant  that  provision  for  human 
redemption  which  was  accomplished  through  the  personal 
obedience,  sufferings,  and  death  of  the  God-man,  and  which 
removed  the  obstacles  in  the  way,  and  furnished  the  means  of 
saving  man. 

(2.)  The  fact  of  the  atonement  is  established,  (a.)  By  the  tes- 
timony of  those  who  have  experienced  its  benefits;  (b.)  By  the 
statements  of  the  Scriptures.* 

(3.)  The  nature  of  the  atonement  in  general  is  that  of  a medi- 
ation between  God,  whose  laws  have  been  broken,  and  man, 
who  has  broken  them.  More  particularly  it  is  an  appeal  to 
God  from  the  man  Jesus  in  behalf  of  his  race,  and  an  appeal  to 
man  from  the  Logos  of  God  in  behalf  of  deiiy,  and  also  an  ap- 
peal to  the  intelligent  universe  from  the  God-man,  in  vindica- 
tion of  God’s  forgiveness  to  the  penitent.  It  is  likewise  of 
the  nature  of  a symbol.  In  Jesus  it  represents  perfect  obo- 


* Representative  passages  are  Heb.  vli,  2T;  lx,  11-14;  Rom.  ill,  25; 
I John  ii,  2. 


SOTERIOLOGY. 


G1 

dionco  on  man’s  part,  and  on  part  of  tlie  Logos  it  represents 
tlie  present  and  eternal  execution  of  justice  for  tlie  gross  vio- 
lation of  God’s  law.  This  view  is  supported; 

(a.)  By  the  Nature  of  the  Case. — Personal  qualities  cannot  be 
literally  transferred  from  one  person  to  another.  The  obedience 
of  the  God-man  cannot,  therefore,  be  otherwise  than  represent- 
ative of  man’s  obedience.  Legal  and  literal  penalty,  likewise, 
cannot  be  inflicted  except  for  actual  guilt,  and  in  the  person  of 
the  actual  transgressor.  The  God-man  was  not  himself  guilty, 
hence  his  sufferings  were  not  for  man  literally,  but  represent- 
atively. 

/'b.)  By  the  Scriptures. — A few  passages*  will  bear  an  interpre- 
lation  which  implies  the  literal  obedience  of  Christ  imputed  to 
man,  iind  the  literal  punishment  inflicted  upon  Christ  for  man  ; 
the  weight  of  Scripture  requires,  however,  a figurative  interpre- 
tation for  this  class  of  passages,  and  gives  highest  support  to 
the  view  of  a satisfactory  substitution.  In  a word,  the  in-being, 
or  the  essentialness,  of  the  atonement,  consists  in  its  treatment 
of  the  sinless  as  sinful,  that  the  sinful  may  be  treated  as  if 
sinless.t 

(4.)  The  extent  of  the  atonement.  It  is  both  universal  and 
limited. 

(a.)  It  is  universal  in  its  provisions  for  the  temporal,  the 
spiritual,  and  the  eternal  welfare  of  every  member  of  the  race. 

(b.)  It  is  limited,  especially  in  its  eternal  relations,  to  those 
who  actually  comply  with  its  expressed  conditions,  and  to  those 
who  would  comply  with  its  conditions  if  made  known  to 
them. 

(5.)  The  relations  of  the  atonement  to  the  triune  God  can 
be  inferred  from  the  nature  of  deity.  The  original  plan  belongs 
to  the  first  personation  of  deity — the  Father : the  manifesta- 
tion in  the  flesh  under  the  phases  of  teacher,  exemplar,  and 
sacrifice,  belongs  to  the  second  personation — the  Logos;  and  its 
execution,  in  the  hearts  of  men  and  in  the  Church  of  God, 


*2  Cor.  V,  21;  Gal.  iii,  13;  also  those  passages  which  speak  of  Christ 
dying  “ for  us,”  and  redeeming  us. 

t The  entire  system  of  Jewish  sacrifices,  and  the  necessity  of  having  faith 
In  the  blood  of  Christ,  suggest  the  character  of  the  atonement. 


62  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. 


belongs  to  the  third  personation  — the  Holy  Gliost.  This 
appears : 

(a.)  From  the  nature  of  the  trinity. 

(b.)  From  Scripture  representation. 

The  class  of  passages  represented  by  John  vi,  38, 
shows  the  relation  of  the  atonement  to  the  Father ; Heb. 
vii,  24-28;  ix,  11-14,  and,  in  brief,  the  entire  drift  of  the 
Hew  Testament  Scriptures  shows  its  relation  to  the  Logos ; 
and  Mark  xii,  11;  Luke  xii,  12;  Acts  xiii,  2-4;  xvi,  6; 
Rom.  XV,  16;  and  1 Cor.  vi,  11,  suggest  its  relation  to  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

(6.)  The  achievements  of  the  atonement. 

(a.)  It  satisfies  God  to  the  extent, -at  least,  that  he  deems  it 
fit  and  best,  upon  compliance  with  required  conditions,  to 
restore  man  to  his  forfeited  position  and  privileges. 

(b.)  It  satisfies  man  that  God  has,  first  and  last,  been  actuated 
by  supreme  love  toward  him. 

(c.)  It  satisfies  the  intelligent  universe  that  God  is  just,  and 
yet  “ the  justifier  of  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus.” 

THE  CONDITIONS  OF  SALVATION. 

Were  salvation  without  conditions  it  would  be 
unlike  any  thing  else  in  God’s  universe,  and  God, 
by  providing  it,  would  defeat  his  own  designs. 
The  grounds  of  salvation,  it  should  be  remem- 
bered, are  distinct  from  its  conditions. 

Human  Conditions. — The  conditions  are,  upon  the 
man-ward  side: 

Repentance. — It  is  of  two  kinds ; that  which  is  technic- 
ally termed  lega\  centering  in  self  and  ending  in  fear;* 
and  that  termed  evangelical^  whicli  is  genuine  sorrow  for  sin, 
because  committed  against  the  best  of  beings,  and  which  is 
followed  by  an  amendment  of  life.f  It  is  probable  that  God 


* Cain,  Saul,  and- Judas  furnish  illustrations, 
t David  and  Peter  furnish  illustrations. 


SOTKKIOLOGV. 


03 


must  give  a measure  of  grace  and  wisdom  to  men,  else  none 
would  repent. 

Conversion. — This  is  logically  distinct  from  repentance, 
but  follows  it  in  the  same  breath.  The  man  sees  his  mistake, 
repents,  turns  square  about,  and  commences  a new  life.  It  is 
a radical  change  as  related  to  man,  not  in  his  character,  but  as 
to  his  purpose.  The  axe  is  laid  at  the  root  of  the  tree.  Con- 
version is  first  destructive,  ever  after  constructive ; it  is  of  all 
man’s  acts  the  most  solemn  and  grand.  Like  repentance,  it 
depends  upon  a divine  element. 

Faith  and  Works. — These  are  known  as  conditions  of 
salvation.  They  are  also  evidences  of  repentance  and  conver- 
sion. They  are  no  less  essential  than  are  the  grounds  of 
salvation. 

Faith,  here  meant,  is  not  merely  intellectual^  which  simply 
assents  to  the  truth,  but  is  eva,ngelica\  leading  one  to  forsake 
every  thing,  if  need  be,  in  order  to  lead  a Christian  life. 

These  conditions  of  salvation — repentance,  conversion,  faith, 
and  works — it  will  be  seen,  are  such  that  they  could  be  com- 
plied with  just  as  perfectly,  and  could  be  just  as  effective,  before 
Jesus  came  as  they  have  been  since,  and  are  just  as  effective 
in  heathen  as  in  civilized  lands.  It  will  be  inferred,  also,  that 
it  is  not  necessary  to  know  the  grounds  of  salvation  in  order 
to  comply  with  its  conditions;  those,  therefore,  in  heathen 
lands  who  have  never  heard  of  Christ  may  be  saved.*  It  may 
not  be  necessary  for  infants  and  idiots,  if  there  be  for  them 
no  probation  hereafter,  even  to  comply  with  the  conditions 
required  of  others;  such  persons  may  be  a law  unto  them- 
selves, or  else  the  grounds  of  salvation,  without  the  conditions, 
may  avail. 

Conditions  upon  the  Divine  Side. — They  are: 

Election,  or,  employing  a term  more  in  conformity  with 
modern  thought,  and  less  objectionable  to  many  persons — 
selection. 


* Rom.  li,  12-16. 


64  OuTLiXE  OF  Christian  Theorogt. 


DifTerent  men  are  constitutionally  fitted  for  different  positions. 
Should  God  see  that  some  phases  of  his  work  can  be  better 
accomplished  by  one  rather  than  another,*  it  would  be  fitting 
for  him,  other  things  equal,  to  so  arrange  his  providences  as  to 
elect,  or  select,  the  better  fitted  person  to  perform  that  special 
work.f  This  is  election  to  occupation.  It  may  be  far  more 
general  than  men  are  aware. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  nations.  The  Jews  appear  to  have 
been  better  fitted  than  any  other  for  being  God’s  early  mis- 
sionary people ; could  he  well  do  otherwise  than  elect  them  for 
that  purpose?  This  is  election  of  nations.  It  is  not  an 
arbitrary  but  conditional  election.:!: 

God  also  sees  that  men  who  repent  and  lead  godly  lives 
are  worthy  of  salvation.  He  therefore  elects  them,  and  per- 
forms in  them  the  work  of  regeneration;  this  is  election  to 
personal  salvation.  We  may  add  that  God  has  eternally 
elected  and  predestinated  righteous  humanity  to  salvation, 
and  has  also  eternall}-  reprobrated  persistently  impenitent 
humanity  to  destruction  ; but  it  is  left  to  individuals  to  decide 
whether  they  will  appear  among  rigliteous  or  impenitent 
humanity.  They  are  always,  therefore,  the  select  spirits  who 
are  elected.  The  atonement  is  for  all  men,§  but  redemption  is 
only  for  the  elect.  || 

Redemption. — By  Avhicli  is  meant  the  full  deliverance  of 
man  from  merited  evil,  and  his  elevation  to  all  the  benefits  of 
a glorified  condition  in  heaven.  It  includes: 

(a.)  Regeneration. — This  is  an  instantaneous  and  radical 
change  as  related  to  God,  not  in  the  purpose,  but  in  the  moral 
nature  of  man.  The^consciousness  of  it  may  or  may  not  be  sim- 
ultaneous with  the  change  itself.  It  is  a work  effected  by 
means  of  the  word  and  truth  of  God,  applied  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
It  is  limited  to  the  penitent  and  converted,  and  will  be  followed 
by  the  exercise  of  a saving  faith  and  a life  of  consecrated  work. 


♦ 1 Cor.  xii,  28-30. 

t The  history  of  Abraham,  Cyrus,  and  Paul  furnish  illustrations. 

X Rom.  ii,  25^-29 ; xi.  § Rev.  xxii,  IT.  p Rom.  \iii,  27-89. 


SOTEHIOLOGY. 


05 


(b.')  Justification, — Tt  is  tliat  act  of  God’s  grace  wliicb  nec- 
essarily follows  regeneration,  which  absolves  regenerated  men 
from  all  past  guilt,  wliich  treats  them  as  if  they  had  always  been 
righteous,  and  which  so  unites  them  with  and  in  Christ  that 
they  receive  to  themselves  that  justified  and  faultless  life 
which  literally  and  strictly  belongs  only  to  the  God-man.  Ii 
includes  adoption^  assurance,^  and  witness  of  the  Spirit.  It  indi- 
cates, in  fine,  a state  of  completwti.  The  regenerated  man  is 
a new  man ; there  is  a restoration  of  all  that  was  lost ; regene- 
ration certainly  is  not  less  than  this,  and  it  cannot  be  more. 
Adam  was  no  more  complete  than  is  the  man  who  is  tlioroughly 
regenerated  and  fully  justified. 

(c.)  Sanctification. — This  is  a condition  wliieh  involves  more 
tlian  completion.  Yet  it  does  not  preclude  the  idea  Qf  spiritual 
growth.  It  is  neither  freedom  from  the  possibility  of  tempta  - 
tion nor  from  the  possibility  of  sinning,  nor  does  it  destroj 
the  natural  or  inherited  imperfections  of  man’s  nature.  It  is 
ratlier,  on  man’s  part,  the  setting  himself  apart  for  and  the 
solemn  consecration  of  himself  to  the  wmrkof  God,  and  on  God’s 
part  it  is  that  sublime  work  efieeted  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the 
souls  of  penitent,  converted,  and  regenerated  men,  commencing 
simultaneously  with  regeneration,  and  being  fully  completed 
(entire  sanctification)  at  or  before  the  moment  the  soul  enters 
heaven;  it  also  begets  in  the  soul  complete  alienation  from  sin, 
exalts  it  to  supreme  love  for  God,  and  enables  it,  by  the  grand- 
est exercise  of  faith  imaginable,  to  appropriate  to  itself  the  ab- 
solute and  entire  righteousness  and  sanctification  of  Christ’s 
character.*  Its  fruits  are  God-like  ;t  it  is  a condition  required 
l )y  the  commands  of  God ; it  is  one  for  which  the  regenerated 
sliould  constantly  pray  and  ceaselessly  strive,  and  is,  from  its 
nature,  attainable  at  any  point  in  the  regenerated  man’s  ex- 
perience. 

(d.)  Ferfeetion. — It  may  be  divided  into : 

1. )  AhsoluU  Ferfeetion. — This  is  a condition  to  which  nothing 
can  be  added  to  make  it  more  or  greater  than  it  now  is ; the 
God-head  alone  is  absolute  perfection. 

2. )  CondMional  Ferfeetion. — This  is  that  state  which  “has  no- 
thing redundant  and  has  nothing  defective,”  when  all  the  condi- 


^ 1 Cor.  j,  80;  Col  i,  21-23.  f Gal  w 22-26;  Gol.  hi,  12~1T. 

5 


C6  Outline  of  Christian  Theology, 


tions  divinely  imposed  are  taken  into  account.  One  who 
answers  perfectly  the  end  for  which  God  made  him  is  condition- 
ally or  relatively  perfect.*  One  who  has  answered  perfectly  the 
end  for  which  God  made  him  has  attained  perfection. 

Adam  was  complete  at  his  creation,  but  had  not  attained  to 
perfection.  The  God-man  was  complete,  say  at  twelve  years  of 
age,  but  had  not  attained  to  perfeetion.f  The  sanetified  arc 
complete,  but  may  not  have  attained  perfection, ^ and  they  will 
not  have  attained  it  until  no  experience,  and  no  discipline,  and 
no  temptation,  and  no  trial,  and  nothing  they  can  do  for  them- 
selves, and  nothing  God  can  do  for  them,  shall  be  able  to  make 
them  answer  any  more  perfectly  than  they  now  do  the  end  for 
which  God  created  them.  When  this  condition  is  reached  tliey 
are  relatively  as  perfect  as  their  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  for, 
morally,  he  can  do  or  be  no  better. 

Whether  conditional  perfection  is  attainable  in  this  life  is  a 
question  under  dispute,  nor  will  we  attempt  to  settle  it.  But  no 
man  will  be  excused  for  not  striving  to  become  thus  perfect, 
both  because  God  commands  it,i  and  because  we  cannot  other- 
wise fully  answer  the  end  of  our  creation. 


ESCHATOLOGY. 

DOCTRINES  OF  FINAL  THINGS. 

BEATH. 

By  this  term,  as  applied  to  humanity,  is  meant 
the  separation  of  the  “ living  (and  eternal)  soul  ”|| 
from  the  physical  life  of  man,  and  the  permanent 
cessation  of  all  the  strictly  physical  functions;  it  is 
pronounced  against  the  entire  race  in  consequence 
of  original  and  actual  transgression.^  Everyman 


* Hooker.  t Heb.  ii,  10.  $ Heb.  x,  14. 

§ Matt.  V,  48 ; 2 Cor.  xiii,  11 ; Epb.  i,  4;  Col.  i,  21,  22 ; James  i,  4, 
il  Gen.  ii,  T.  t Gen.  ii,  IT ; iii,  19 ; Rom.  v,  12. 


Eschatology. 


67 


since  Adam  lias  deserved  death  as  much  as  he  did, 
and  dies  for  his  own  sin.*  All  men  are  tenants  at 
Avill. 

In  the  process  of  development,  however,  man 
might  have  passed,  even  if  he  had  not  sinned, 
from  liis  primeval  condition  to  a higher;  it  would 
not  have  been  through  death  and  the  grave,  prob- 
ably, but  by  translation  or  transfiguration.! 

INTEEMEDIATE  CONDITION. 

This  covers  the  time  intervening  between  death 
and  the  resurrection.  It  is  an  unalterable  condi- 
tion, as  to  the  drift  of  moral  character,  respecting 
those  for  whom  a probation  is  necessary,  and  who 
have  had  their  probation  in  this  life.J  It  is  a con- 
dition of  the  conscious  existence  of  the  “ living 
soul,”  but  not  such,  probably,  as  to  allow  of  its 
full  merit  and  demerit. § 

CHEIST’S  SECOND  ADVENT. 

This  is  to  be  the  first  act  in  a series  of  the 
grandest  transactions  the  universe  will  ever  wit- 
ness. It  is  to  be  sudden,  and  as  sublime  as  sud- 
den.||  The  mass  of  men  will  be  about  their  ordi- 
naiy  occupations,^  when,  without  definite  warn- 
ing, the  God-man  will  unexpectedly  appear  amid 
the  transformation  of  things  physical  into  things 


* Deut.  xxiv,  16;  Jer.  xxxi,  30. 
t 2 Kings  ii,  11;  Heb.  xi,  5;  1 Thess.  iv,  15-17. 

$ Eccl.  xi,  3 ; Luke  xvi,  26 ; Eev.  xxii,  11.  § Matt,  xxv,  31-46. 

I Matt,  xxiv,  42-51 ; xxv,  1-14.  ^ Matt,  xxiv,  86,  41, 


68  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. 

spiritual — and  in  that  change  every  human  eye 
shall  see  him.* 

END  OF  THE  WORLD. 

This,  perhaps,  would  better  be  termed  the  trans- 
formation of  the  v/orld  from  its  present  to  its  spir- 
itualized and  glorified  condition.  It  is  to  be  as 
sudden  and  unexpected  as  the  advent  of  Christ, 
and  simultaneous  with  it.f  The  boundary  lines 
hitherto  existing  between  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  will  vanish,  and  the  New  Jerusalem  will 
appear  as  if  descending  from  God  out  of  heaven.  J 

THE  CHANGE  AND  TRANSLATION  OF  THE  LIVING. 

This  is  to  be  universal  and  instantaneous.  The 
bodies  of  the  redeemed  will  suddenly  become  such 
as  to  reflect  the  full  beauty  and  splendor  of  Christ’s 
glorified  body,  and  be  fitted  to  see  God  face  to 
face,  and  enjoy  the  rapture  of  heaven, § and  we 
infer  that  the  bodies  of  the  unredeemed  will  be- 
come such  as  to  reflect  the  character  they  have 
formed,  and  be  perfectly  fitted  for  whatever  is  in 
reserve  for  them.|| 

RESURRECTION  FROM  THE  DEAD. 

This  is  another  of  the  majestic  events  which  is  to 
take  place  in  the  consummation  of  the  present 
dispensation.  The  redeemed  are  to  be  raised  first 
and  simultaneously.  The  unredeemed  afterward. 


•*=  Eev.  i,  T.  t 2 Pet  iii,  4, 10-13. 

§ 1 Cor.  XV,  51,  52 ; 1 Theps.  iv,  13-17;  1 John  iii,  2. 


:}:  Rev,  xxi,  1,  2. 
11  1 Cor,  XV,  38, 


Eschatology. 


69 


The  bodies  raised  will  be  the  same,  in  a historic 
sense,  as  tlie  bodies  buried,  thongli  not  the  same 
in  a material  sense;  as  we  say  that  the  body  of 
the  man  bending  under  tlie  decrepitude  of  sixty 
years  is  the  same,  historically,  as  it  was  sixty 
seconds  after  birth,  though  there  should  remain  in 
it  not  a particle  which  constituted  the  original 
body,  and  though  it  delies  recognition. 

The  resurrection  body  is  to  have  some  direct 
relation  with  the  present  body,  and  to  the  place 
of  its  burial,  and  will  exactly  correspond  to  the 
transfigured  body  of  the  living."^  Evidence  for 
the  resurrection  is  based  upon  : 

(1.)  The  resurrection  of  Christ ; his  is  a pledge  of  ours. 

(2.)  The  direct  and  repeated  statement  of  the  Script- 
ures. 

(3.)  The  deep  convictions  of  the  human  soul. 

GENERAL  JUDGMENT. 

Of  the  thrilling  interest  and  solemn  grandeur  of 
this  tribunal  we  can  have  but  the  faintest  con- 
ception. The  God-man  is  to  be  the  supreme 
judge.f  His  decisions  will  be  just  to  all,J  and 
will  be  based  upon  incoutrovertible  evidence. 

It  is  reasonable  to  infer  that  the  spiritual 
body,  which  is  perhaps  already  concealed  within 
the  physical,  and  which  may  be  taking  an  accurate 
expression  of  the  character  formed,  as  the  physical 


* For  confirmation  of  these  various  statements  reference  is  made  to  Dan. 
xii,  2;  John  v,  28,  29;  xii,  24;  1 Cor.  xv;  Rev.  x.x,  13. 
t John  V.  22. 


t Rom.  ii.  C-11. 


70  Outline  of  Chris n an  Theology. 


body  t.ikes  partial  expression,  will  furnish  the 
most  overwhelming  evidence  concerning  all  the 
transactions  of  the  present  life. 

Man’s  recollection  will  be  vigorous  as  never 
before.  The  witnesses  are  to  be  numerous.* 
There  will  be  a public  exposure  of  every  secret 
sin.f  The  decisions  will  be  based  upon  critical 
and  minute  evidence.  There  will  be  no  undue 
haste.  The  universe  will  have  time  enough, 
and  will  never  tire  of  biography.  Every  man’s 
secret  life,  we  may  rest  assured,  is  a drama 
crowded  with  intensest  interest,  or  a tragedy  of 
awful  significance.  All  the  palliating  and  all  the 
aggravating  circumstances  in  individual  experi- 
ence will  be  brought  into  account.  JSTot  a word, 
or  a thought,  having  a bearing  upon  the  case,  will 
be  overlooked;  perhaps  every  word  and  thought 
has  its  bearing.!  There  will  be  the  most  perfect 
equity.§  Its  decisions  will  be  such  as  to  vindicate 
God  in  all  his  dealings  with  man.  Thus,  indi- 
rectly, God  will  place  himself  on  trial. 

Evidence  for  the  fact  of  a judgment  is  based  upon : 

(1.)  A universal  sense  of  justice  which  demands  an 
adjustment  of  the  injustices  and  irregularities  of  the 
life  that  now  is. 

(2.)  The  consciousness  which  so  often  hints  to  man 
that  he  is  passing  from  a state  of  trial  to  one  of  rewards 
and  punishments. 

(3.)  The  reiterated  statements  of  the  Scriptures.  They 
disclose  not  only  the  fact  of  the  judgment,  but  urge 


♦ Heb.  xii,  1. 

X Matt,  xii,  36,  37. 


t Eccles.  xii,  14;  Rom.  ii,  16;  1 Cor.  iv,  5. 
§ Rom.  ii,  11-16. 


Eschatology. 


71 


upon  mortals,  by  every  consideration,  the  most  careful 
preparation  for  it.* 


THE  CONCLUSION  OF  CHRIST’S  MEDIATION. 

This  subject,  perhaps,  cannot  be  better  stated 
than  in  the  words  of  revelation  : 

Then  corneth  the  end,  when  he  shall  have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  to 
God,  even  the  Father;  when  he  shall  have  put  down  all  rule,  and  all  author- 
ity, and  power. 

For  he  must  reign,  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet. 

The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death. 

For  he  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet.  But  when  he  saith  all  things 
are  put  under  him,  it  is  manifest  that  he  is  excepted,  which  did  put  all  things 
under  him. 

And  when  all  things  shall  be  subdued  unto  him,  then  shall  the  Son  also 
himself  be  subject  unto  him  that  put  all  things  under  him,  that  God  may  be 
all  in  all.t 

If  we  mistake  not  the  import  of  this  remark- 
able language,  it  is  that  the  mediatorial  work  and 
reign  of  the  God-man  will  terminate  with  the 
conclusion  of  the  final  judgment.  The  union  of 
the  two  natures,  first  manifested  in  heaven,  later 
among  the  patriarchs,  and  later  still  in  the  child 
conceived  of  Mary,  will  be  dissolved ; the  Logos 
will  part  from  humanity,  leaving  it,  (humanity,) 
under  God,  to  represent  deity,  to  occupy  the  eternal 
throne, J and  to  remain  forever  the  most  highly  hon- 
ored created,  or  begotten,  existence  in  the  universe. 
The  Father,  the  Logos,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  will  be 
no  longer  officially  distinct,  in  relation,  at  least,  to 
creation  and  redemption;  the -unity  will  be  hence- 
forth objective,  the  trinity  subjective,  and  God  will 


X Ezek.  t 


* Eccles.  xi,  9 ; 2 Pet.  iii,  14. 


1 1 Cor.  XV,  24-2S. 


72  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. 


be  ‘^all  in  all,”  and  such  as  to  be  the  source  of 
everlasting  delight  to  all  his  redeemed  children. 

ENDLESS  GLORIFICATION  OF  THE  REDEEMED. 

The  future  state  of  the  redeemed,  as  a perfected 
condition,  we  are  assured,  will  be  the  utmost  that 
the  redemption  of  the  God-man  can  effect.  God  is 
to  share  all  his  glories  with  those  who  have  par- 
taken of  his  nature.  They  will  be  the  sole  heirs 
with  Clirist  of  the  universe.*  f 

The  place  is  to  be  heaven.  The  entire  Scripture  rep- 
resentation makes  it  an  objective  reality:  the  forms  and 
bodies  in ‘it  glow  and  pulsate  with  the  fullness  and 
beauty  of  life.  We  expect  to  find  heaven  full  of  charm- 
ing landscapes  and  beautiful  homes. f All  that  the 
wisdom  and  power  of  God  is  able  to  accomplish  in 
fitting  a place  especially  and  perfectly  adapted  to  the 
redeemed,  will  be  done ; nothing  will  be  deemed  too 
grand  or  too  good  for  God’s  adopted  children. 


* 1 John  iii,  2 ; Matt,  xxv,  84 ; Eom.  viii,  17. 

t The  thought  that  no  order  of  created  intelligence  is  above  humanity  in  its 
normal  condition  may  be  startling,  but  is  authorized,  (1.)  By  the  soul’s 
conviction  that  nothing  stands  between  it  and  God;  and  that  to  no  one  else 
is  it  under  direct  obligation.  (2.)  By  that  principle  of  science  which  makes 
the  last  in  order  of  creation  the  highest  type  of  created  existence.  (8.)  By 
certain  Scripture  representations  concerning  man  in  his  redeemed  state. 
Matt,  xix,  28;  Luke  xxii,  30;  John  xvii,  22;  2 Tim.  it,  12;  Ileb,  i,  14;  ii, 
5-1 1 ; Be V.  xx,  6 ; and  especially  1 Cor.  vi,  2, 3.  The  two  passages,  Psa.  ^iii, 
5,  and  Heb.  ii,  9,  which  appear  to  imply  a different  view  respecting  man’s 
normal  state,  really  do  not.  The  word  in  the  Psalms  translated  “ angels  ” is 
“ cloheim,”  rarely  meaning  other  than  gods,  or  God.  In  the  passage  from 
the  Hebrews  the  comparison  appears  to  be  between  angels  and  the  fallen 
li.ature  of  man;  we  think  a better  translation  of  the  clause  is:  ‘'We  see 
Jesus  for  a little  while  made  lower  than  the  angels.” — Valkenaer. 

^ John  xiv,  1-3 ; 2 Cor.  v,  1 ; See  also  descriptions  of  the  metropolis  of 
the  heavenly  country  in  Bev.  xxl  and  xxIi. 


Eschatology. 


73 

AVe  have  a right  to  infer  tliat  for  comj^anions  there 
will  be  wise  and  good  beings — angels,  wlio  have  been 
proved  worthy  and  safe  companions  by  a previous  pro- 
bation, and  whose  delight  it  will  ever  be  to  minister 
to  man,  as  during  man’s  earthly  life-time  they  have  been 
near,  though  invisible,  often  affording  him  aid  when 
least  expecting  and  least  recognizing  it.* 

ENDLESS  KEPROBATION  OF  THE  UNREDEEMED. 

As  a condition  it  will  be  appalling — a perpetual 
death,  that  dies  not.f  It  will  be  the  natural  and 
normal  consequence  of  sin ; it  is  to  be,  therefore,  a 
condition  of  punishment  rather  than  of  discipline ; 
a punishment  such  as  is  necessary  to  vindicate  the 
character  of  universal  law,  the  character  of  the 
lawgiver,  and  such  as  will  prevent  future  sin  in 
case  of  the  redeemed,  and  promote  their  absolute 
holiness. 

The  place  is  to  be  Gehenna,  where  will  reign  confu- 
sion and  dismay ; it  is  a place  prepared  at  first  not  for 
man,  but  for  the  devil  and  his  angels.  Man  will  be  an 
intruder  in  that  place ; he  has  no  business  there ; he  goes 
there  because  of  his  own  fault,  and  because,  despite 
entreaties,  warnings,  and  obstacles  thrown  in  his  patli, 
he  has  insisted  upon  going  thitherward  instead  of  going 
heavenward. 

We  may  reasonably  conclude,  also,  that  the  i^lace 
will  be  suitable  for  persistently  wicked  persons,  and 
that  justice  will  be  no  more  equitably  dispensed  in 
heaven  than  in  Gehenna.  The  condition  and  place  are 
to  be,  we  are  told,  final  and  endless.  The  retributive 


♦ Heb.  i,  xiv ; Matt,  xviii,  10.  t Mark  ix,  44. 

t Mark  iii,  29 ; 2 Pet.  ii,  17 ; Key.  xiv.  11 ; Matt,  xxv,  46. 


74  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. 


agencies,  the  unending  fire,  the  undying  worm,  and  the 
utter  darkness,  will  be  such  as  to  produce  upon  spiritual 
bodies  precisely  the  same  effect  that  literal  and  mate- 
rial fire  and  a literal  and  gnawing  worm  would  produce 
upon  physical  bodies. 

For  associates  the  lost  will  have  Satan,  and  demons, 
the  subjects  of  his  kingdom.*  If  the  Scriptures 
are  true,  Satan  is  a reality,  not  an  abstraction,!  and 
is  also  a type  of  all  fallen  spirits.  His  influence  is  not 
absolute,  but  permitted,!  and  mortals  can  resist  him.§ 
But  more  than  this ; if  other  points  already  brought  out 
are  correct,  then  we  may  infer  certain  things  respect- 
ing this  person  which  are  not  fully  revealed  in  the 
Scriptures. 

If,  for  illustration,  humanity  was  a higher  creation 
than  the  angels,  and  if  Satan  was  of  the  highest  order 
of  angelic  creation,  then,  when  pre-existing  humanity 
came  into  being  and  was  placed  upon  the  throne,  there 
was  an  occasion  for  the  origin  of  pride,  jealousy,  and 
rebellion  on  part  of  Satan.  And  when  the  command 
was  given,  “Let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him,”|| 
the  spirit  of  rebellion  manifested  itself  in  open  revolt. 
Of  the  fact  of  this  rebellion  there  can  be  no  question.  IT 

Also,  when  historic  humanity  was  created  in  the 
person  of  Adam  there  was  another  occasion  for  the 
further  exercise  of  jealousy  and  malignity  on  part  of 
Satan  and  his  minions.* * § **  But  probably  he  did  not  at 


* Kingdom  of  Satan.  Matt,  xii,  26;  Acts  xxvi,  18. 

t Mark  iv,  15 ; Luke  x5di,  31 ; 2 Cor.  ii,  11 ; Jolin  viii,  44.  t Job  i,  12. 

§ James  iv,  7 ; 1 Pet.  v,  9.  1|  Heb.  i,  6.  1 Rev.  xii,  7. 

**  Should  the  common  view  that  Satan  was  the  personal  agent  in  the 

temptation  of  Adam  have  to  be  abandoned,  there  will  be  no  occasion  for 
alarm.  The  follo\ving  are  some  of  the  reasons  upon  which  is  based  the  sup- 
position that  it  was  one  of  the  lower  orders  of  fallen  spirits  which  tempted 
our  first  parents That  there  were  lower  orders  is  certainly  in  harmony 
with  God's  subhme  method  of  evolution  and  deyelppii^ent.  Beipg  inexperi- 


■ Esciiatologt. 


75 


that  time  descend  to  the  lowest  degradation,  or,  possibly, 
below  recovery.  God  has  been  merciful  to  the  fallen 
angels  as  well  as  to  fallen  humanity.  May  not  Satan 
have  been  left  for  a time  upon  probation  ? May  not  the 
opportunity  for  repentance  and  restoration  given  him 
have  been  like  that  given  to  mortals?  There  were 
elect,*  why  not  non-elect  angels?  In  this  connection, 
“ the  Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,”  is 
significant.! 

But  when  the  historic  God-man  appeared,  then  the 
old  spirit  of  rebellion  which  first  showed  itself  in 
heaven  against  the  pre-existent  spiritual  God-man,  rose 
to  its  height,  and  in  that  mad  and  reckless  endeavor  to 
tempt  and  destroy  the  Son  of  God,J  Satan  forfeited  all 
claims  to  mercy,  and  did  irreparable  damage  to  his 


enced  and  unsuspecting-,  it  is  claimed  that  Adam  ought  not  to  have  been 
exposed  to  the  superior  experience,  skill,  and  power  of  Satan.  It  is  also 
urged  that  there  is,  in  addition  to  this,  no  indication  in  the  record  that  the 
tempter  possessed  an  imposing  or  awe-inspiring  presence ; nor  is  there  any 
hint  that  Satan  personally  did  the  work.  It  was  Nahash.  (Gen.  iii,  1-16 ; 
2 Cor.  xi,  8.) 

It  is  insisted,  also,  that  the  introductory  chapters  of  Genesis  must  be 
either  history,  allegory,  or  a commingling  of  both.  If  history,  ought  they 
not  to  be  taken  as  they  read  ? If  we  suppose  them  to  be  allegory,  is  not 
tire  supposition  fatal  to  the  whole  book  ? And  if  a commingling  of  both,  is 
it  not  equally  fatal,  it  being  impossible  to  tell  where  the  allegory  ends  and 
the  history  begins  ? There  may  be  a deeper  significance  in  the  repugnance 
felt  by  man  toward  the  serpent  tribe  than  appears  upon  the  surface,  provided 
it  is  a symbol  of  one  of  the  lower  orders  of  fallen  spiritual  being.  Had 
Satan  been  personally  guilty  of  that  base  act  it  seems  probable  that  he  would 
have  never  after  been  admitted  into  heaven ; especially  if  the  severer  sen- 
tences against  him  had  been  executed.  (Gen.  iii,  14-15.)  But  as  it  was, 
though  he  had  lost  rank,  he  appears  up  to  Job’s  time  to  have  free  access  to 
heaven.  He  came  ^^ith  the  sons  of  God  and  presented  himself,  (Job  i,  6,) 
and  was  held  in  respect  by  them,  (Jude  9,)  and  when  reminded  of  the  per- 
fect man.  he  felt  at  liberty  to  argue  the  case,  and  uttered  the  complaint  so 
frequently  urged  by  impenitent  persons  that  they  are  sinful  and  others  good 
because  of  differences  in  circumstance.  ( Job  i,  8-13.) 

♦ 1 Tim.  V,  21.  t Rev.  xiii,  8. 


X Matt,  iv,  1-12. 


76  Outline  of  Chkistian  Theology. 


moral  character.  That  was  an  act  of  blasphemy.  He 
then  committed,  as  it  seems  to  ns,  the  unpardonable 
sin,  and  fell,  as  lightning,  from  heaven,*  never  again 
to  enter  it.  The  heavens  could  well  rejoice,  the  accuser 
had  gone  from  their  midst  ;t  and  tlie  earth  might  wail 
for  the  woe  that  his  abiding  presence  brought  upon  it.J 

It  is  this  malignant  and  wretched  being,  an  enemy  of 
God  and  man,  ever  seeking  to  rob  God  of  his  glory 
and  men  of  their  souls, § with  whom,  as  we  are  taught, 
the  lost  spirits  of  men  are  to  dwell  in  darkness  and 
cliains  for  ever  and  ever.  || 

Demons  are  likewise  represented  as  associates  of 
those  mortals  who  persist  in  going  in  ways  of  death. 
They  are  beings  who  are  doubtless  of  different  degrees 
of  power  and  intelligence,  and  who,  during  man’s  pro- 
bation, have  been  active,  miserable,  unresting,  taking 
every  possible  advantage  of  his  natural  disposition, 
liealth,  and  circumstances,  sending  fiery  darts  into  his 
soul,  ever  tempting  him  to  evil,  and  constantly  plotting 
his  ruin,  and  whose  malignant  delight  will  not  be  satis- 
fied until  they  have  succeeded  in  making  man  as 
wretched  as  they  themselves  are.  IF 


* Luke  X,  18.  t Kev.  xii,  10.  $ Eev.  xii,  12. 

§ Luke  xxii,  3 ; Acts  v,  3 ; 1 Pet.  v,  8.  B Matt,  xxv,  41 ; Eev.  xx,  10-15. 
^ Matt,  xii,  43-45. 


Supplemental  Topics. 


77 


SUPPLEMENTAL  TOPICS. 

THE  LORD’S  DAY. 

Sabbath  means  a day  of  rest.  Resting  upon  a 
seventh  day  is  both  a physical  and  a moral  law 
which  cannot  be  disregarded  with  impunity.  One 
day  there  must  be;  which  sliall  it  be?  is  a ques- 
tion sometimes  raised ; the  question  is  relatively 
unimportant. 

Tlie  day  designated  as  the  Sabbath,  and  ob- 
served by  the  Jews,  was  commemorative  of  the 
completion  of  the  work  of  fitting  up  this  earth 
for  the  probationary  abode  of  man.  No  day 
could  have  been  at  that  time  more  appropriately 
observed. 

The  day  at  present  recognized  as  the  Sabbath 
among  Christian  nations  is  equally  appropriate; 
it  commemorates  the  concluding  act  in  the  greater 
work  of  redeeming  man  from  sin  and  its  conse- 
quences. Both  as  a law  and  as  a remembrancer 
of  Christ’s  resurrection  it  should  be  called  the 
Lord’s  Day,  and  be  guarded  by  every  Christian 
with  holy  jealousy. 


THE  CHURCH. 

This  may  be  viewed  in  different  relations. 
When  considered  as  a company  of  professing 
Christians  organized  into  one  or  more  societies  for 
worship  and  observance,  it  is  called  the  church 


78  Outline  of  Christian  Theology. 


visible ; when,  without  visible  organization,  it  in- 
cludes all  the  redeemed,  wliether  adults  or  in- 
fants, baptized  or  unbaptized,  in  Christian  or  in 
heathen  lands,  it  is  the  church  invisible;  when 
spoken  of  in  its  relation  to  the  body  of  regener- 
ated believers  on  earth,  it  is  termed  the  church 
militant;  when  including  the  regenerated  on 
earth  and  in  heaven,  it  is  denominated  the  cliurch 
universal ; and  when  only  the  regenerated  in 
heaven  are  meant,  then  the  term  employed  is 
church  triumphant. 

CHURCH  SACRAMENTS. 

They  are  visible  and  federal  rites,  instituted 
under  the  command  of  God  as  symbols  of  religious 
truth.  There  are  two  of  these  ordinances. 

The  Loud’s  Supper. — This  is  a visible  and  federal 
rite  instituted  by  our  Lord,  (Matt,  xxvi,  26-30,)  in 
place  of  the  Jewish  Passover,  (Exod.  xii,  11-14,)  and 
is  a symbol  of  Christ’s  sufferings,  of  God’s  love  and 
mercy,  and  of  the  faith  of  believers.  The  conditions 
upon  which  it  may  be  partaken  are  not  entire  sancti- 
fication, but  evangelical  repentance  and  active  faith, 
coupled  with  a desire  to  call  to  mind  the  death  and 
sufferings  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Baptism. — This  ordinance  is  a sign  of  the  necessity  and 
of  the  fact  of  evangelical  regeneration,  and  is  a public 
profession  of  the  candidate’s  consecration  to  Christ. 
The  mode,  as  it  seems  to  us,  is  unimportant.  Baptism 
is  baptism,  be  the  method  one  of  sprinkling,  pouring, 
or  immersion,  or  be  the  quantity  of  water  more  or 
less,  or  even  none,  if  none  can  be  had.  The  subjects 


S U rr LEM  ENTAL  ToPics. 


70 


of  baptism  arc  all  who  believe  in  Christ,  and  who  offer 
themselves  in  consecration  to  him.  In  case  of  infants 
the  parents  may  act  for  the  child,  and  the  child,  com- 
ing to  years  of  understanding,  may  appropriate,  by 
faith,  that  act  of  the  parents,  making  the  sacrament 
thereby  personally  effective. 

CHUECH  POLITY. 

It  is  the  science  of  church  government,  includ- 
ing the  forms  and  methods  of  its  legislative  and 
executive  administration.  In  general  it  is  of  three 
kinds : 

(1.)  Where  the  legislative  and  executive  power  is 
vested,  in  a corporative  capacity,  solely  in  the  hands  of 
ecclesiastical  officers.  The  Roman  Catholic,  the  Epis- 
copalian, and  the  Presbyterian  Churches  are  of  this 
form  of  polity. 

(2.)  Where  the  legislative  and  executive  power  is 
vested,  in  a corporative  capacity,  partly  with  ecclesias- 
tical officers  and  partly  with  the  laity.  The  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  has,  at  the  present  time,  this  form  of 
government. 

(3.)  Where  the  legislative  and  executive  power  of  each 
local  Church  is  vested  in  the  hands  of  the  assembled 
brotherhood.  Of  this  class  are  the  various  bodies 
styled  Independents  in  England,  and  in  this  country 
Congregationalists,  Baptists,  Unitarians,  and  others. 


THE  END. 


t: 


7. 


.f-V 


:-^6v;.'.  -.• 


